Power Rangers - Wolf Pack
by Nightfury991
Summary: A more realistic take on PR, with an OC Team - Evil always exists, in one form or another. It cannot be destroyed or created; only transferred. The latest evil takes the form of Demons, rising from a 10,000 year slumber. Five teens are all that stand between this world and total annihilation. But Demons aren't the only evil these Rangers will face; after all, who can you trust now?
1. Episode 0 - Prologue

Prologue

Smoke flew over the empty battlefield; the grass had been upturned from explosions, leaving marks in the surface, like gashes. The soil bleeding out from the Earth, littering across the once peaceful land. The otherwise green grass stained with the blood of the fallen.

Bodies littered everywhere, thrown about like toys belonging to a short tempered child. Limbs missing, spat across the field. No severed limb was close to the original owner.

Yet these bodies were of strange creatures; humanoid, but covered in fur. Colors varied from creature to creature, but all sharing similar features.

Long muzzles in place of the mouth. Large, pointed ears. Builds far greater than that of most humans; some larger than others, making identification easy between genders.

But all dead.

Well… _almost_ all…

From a large gash in the Earth, a hand slowly rose up and sunk into the ground beside the opening; four fingers and a thumb, but each topped with a sharpened talon-like claw, increasing the force they held onto the ground.

Gruff, growl-like sounds came from the creature, whose other hand came up from the gash, latching onto the same ground, pulling themselves up from the dirt.

His crimson armor sporting clumps of dirt, yet another substance stained the body armor. The colors may have been the same, but there was a slight distinction between the battle worn armor, and the patches of blood across the chest plating and cloth that made up his armoring.

Pulling himself free of the dirt, he let himself roll onto his back, head resting back; chest rising and falling slowly but deeply. His weapon, a curved blade, resting against his left arm, blood slowly trickled down the smooth edge, before dropping onto the grass blades. Further staining the surface with the fallen blood.

His hands shook slightly, as they slowly moved from the ground to rest on either side of his head; flicking open the clasps of his mask, removing it from the extended muzzle and throwing it to one side. His fur slightly damp from being compressed close to his body for an unknown period of time. A small cut, just below his right eye, seeped out blood; staining the charcoal black fur down the right side of his muzzle. Said muzzle was parted slightly, letting out the exhales of his labored breathing.

A defiant shake in his breathing, which simply refused to go away.

His eyes, comprised of a dark yellow sclera and black pupil, were both dilated and darted in all directions every few seconds. His ears pressed flush against his skull, almost burying in the fur across the back of his head.

The past hours had been torturous on his hearing, and he began to question if his hearing had gone completely until the sound of the wind caught his attention. A sigh of relief passed through him once he had his breathing under control.

Slowly turning his head to the left, the creature's eyes finally managed to make out shapes in the bright field. The disembodied remains of his enemies…and…

"Brothers…" he said aloud, not expecting a response; his voice a hush whisper, finding it a struggle to say anything. It, frankly, amazed him he managed to get that word out. His throat felt parched; coughing shortly after speaking.

A strained groan escaped him as his body slowly rolled onto his left side, pressing his hands into the earth; pushing himself up, his claws slicing through the moist dirt as if it were air.

Finally positioning himself to his knees, he looked around the stained battlefield; seeing the scattered bodies, the blood stains and the gashed surface. A shaky, slow exhale escaped him, his hands coming to rest on his knees, clutching the cloth that went over his leg armor.

"It's over…" he said to himself, his ears slowly lifting themselves up from the back of his skull; gaining a better hearing range. The sound of wings flapping made themselves known. Most likely vultures fighting over who got the best flesh of the dead.

His head slowly looked down, his yellow eyes closing slowly as he inhaled deeply.

"It's over…"

One hand slowly uncurled from its grip on the cloth, and slowly moved to his side; patting along his waist, feeling the point where the waist cloth was attached to the armor of his torso. Eventually reaching a small pouch, almost directly behind his back. A quick shake created a light jingling sound; like metal coins, tempting a merchant to part with his valuables.

Finally gathering himself enough, the creature rose from his kneeling position; stumble slightly from the initial standing, but quickly righting himself.

He inhaled deeply, his ears standing up right, pointed to the sky, as his lupine muzzle turned to one direction, and his legs eventually got the message.

One job was finished, but another needed starting…

* * *

The sun slowly moved across the sky, the cycle almost half over and the moon was beginning to rise by the time he was finished. He stood before the line of creatures, all in the same position. Arms crossed over their chest, legs together, eyes gently closed if they weren't already.

He walked pass their heads, one hand carrying the curved blade, resting the blunt edge against his armored shoulder, while the other hand held a thick branch. Embers flickered from the fire that burnt the other end, cloth wrapped firmly and doused with flammable liquid. The only source of light and warmth for miles around.

The long wall finally ended, the creature coming to a stop at the two wolves that ended the lineup. He looked down, slowly lowering the torch to illuminate their motionless faces. One female, one male; one muzzle more slender than the other, one pair of ears slightly curved, while one had a larger build and a scar across their forehead.

A tired sigh escaped the living creature, closing his eyes and tightening his grip around both the hole for the blade and the base of the torch. Despite his work, guilt still wretched through him like an illness; starting in the base of his stomach, and working to the rest of his body.

Three bodies were still unaccounted for…

"You all died with honor…you fought for our people…" he said aloud, opening his eyes again and walking back the way he came. The _whoosh_ from the flame spiked with the sudden movement, before the faint crackling returned.

"Your deaths were not in vain…we completed our task. Horror…is no more; vanquished from this land, never to harm a creature on this planet again. He slaughtered our people; the humans feared him, let him consume them…turned them on each other."

A hollow, low chuckle escaped him.

"He damn near did the same to us…But we stopped him. And for that…Zeta will reward you."

He slowly knelt down at the middle point of the line, carefully holding the burning end of the torch to the line of bodies long enough for the fire to spread to the bodies.

"May Zeta guide you; may Zeta protect you."

He rose to his feet once again, taking a step back as the fires started to spread, one body at a time. A line of fire soon consumed all of the bodies, the smell of burnt fur and flesh slowly filling the air around them.

He did stay long enough for the smell to stick to him; the torch was dumped on the bodies, he walked away, walking away. Humans would be arriving soon…they'll see the light and come…

' _Their curiosity is their weakness…',_ the creature thought to himself as he vanished from sight.

* * *

 **I know, I know. The same stories three times in a row. Hey, maybe three is the magic number for me to actually finish this story.**

 **OK, a few things to note;**

 **#1 - This story will be my main focus now, and I will try to keep it alive and update it regularly. Expect a maximum of three updates a week (Sunday-Sunday), and a bare minimum of one.**

 **#2 - When (and if) this story gets to the point in a Power Rangers series has a crossover, I will be more than happy to have a crossover with another team of OC Rangers. If you're interested, send a PM to say and we'll see how the story goes.**

 **#3 - I'm sorry about deleting the same version of this story twice before; it won't be happening again, I assure you guys.**

 **#4 - There will be foul language and blood throughout the story. So, don't be surprised if I drop the F-bomb.**

 **Well, hope you guys like this re-reboot of the original Wolf Pack. R &R, tell me what you think, and I'll see you all in the next chapter. -Nf991**


	2. Episode 1 - Awakening

Episode 1 - Awakening

"Alright! Pax High; everybody off!"

The holler from the front of the bus caught Isaac's attention; he'd been staring out of the window, watching the scenery pass by; apart from the occasional bump from going over a rock in the road, it had been smooth.

It would have been better if it weren't for the other teenagers crammed into the school bus.

Isaac had grown up as an only child, so was used to the silence of a house with only three people in it. He relished in it whenever they came around, which became fewer and fewer the older he got.

And the fact that he was in the middle of other teenagers, who spent more time looking at the phone in their hands than what was in front of them, shouting loudly to be heard over everyone else shouting, made him appreciate it all the more.

With a low, calming exhale, Isaac reached between his legs and grabbed his rucksack, getting to his feet and filing off of the bus along with the other students. Bodies shoving against each other in the narrow confines of the walkway in the bus, as they shuffled towards the open door.

The students muttered small words of gratitude to the driver, some merely grunting from being too absorbed in the latest Tweet, before Isaac passed the driver, muttering a faint "Cheers," before climbing off of the bus.

No point in hiding his accent, he figured shortly after arriving here. _'They'd find out soon enough,'_ he told himself.

He stepped off the bus, sit stepping to let the other students pass, all walking towards the high school that stood before him.

The walls were an off white in color; either by choice or from weathering, it really wasn't a good color, in Isaac's opinion. But, he didn't really have a say in what passed for decent colors nowadays. Still, the design was alright; at least three stories high, with windows lining the height of some areas, void of classrooms but filled with stairs.

The name of the school, ' _PAX VALLEY HIGH SCHOOL',_ was embedded into the sign above the front doors, as students filed through, heading to their hangouts before dragging themselves to their first period.

Exhaling again, Isaac slung the black rucksack over his shoulder, looking across all that was in front of him.

"Here we go…" he said to himself, before willing his feet to begin walking; driving himself towards the school.

Pushing his way through the double doors, he was met with a wall of students; blocking the entire width of the hallway, chatting in little clusters, their little friendship circles, barely leaving room for a single person to navigate their way through them.

Rolling dark brown eyes, Isaac began the process of maneuvering his way through the clusters; brushing past people, trying to find his class as quickly as possible.

"Class 13…Class 13…" he muttered to himself, looking from side to side, reaching a crossroads in the corridor. Thankfully, signs hung from the ceiling and helped Isaac find his class.

Heading left, he found this corridor was narrower, and thankfully, fewer people were filling the width. He headed past several doors, looking for their number.

Class 11….

Class 12…

"Bingo," he muttered to himself, stopping and standing before Class 13.

He stepped forward, opening the door and heading into the classroom.

There were only a few students already in the classroom; the rest of them were taking their sweet ass time dragging themselves from their lockers.

"Ah, you must be…Isaac, yes?"

Isaac turned to look at the source of the voice; it would appear to be the teacher of the class.

He had a wiry figure, which was half hidden behind the desk; arms crossed in front of his chest, crumpling his dark grey suit. This was paired with a white shirt and slim black tie.

A pair of thin wired glasses rested on his nose, which he pressed back slightly when Isaac entered the room. Short black hair was kept clean and trimmed, a professional look.

"That's me sir," Isaac replied with a faint nod.

The teacher picked up a piece of paper from his desk, muttering a little under his breath.

"You're sitting at the back. Find a seat, the others should be in soon."

Again, Isaac nodded, before walking around the desks and slinging his bag under the desk of his selected seat, dragging the seat out and taking a seat.

Now all he had to do was wait for the others…see who he was stuck with for the foreseeable future...

* * *

Kyle was _REALLY_ regretting last night. He should have had all those drinks…just one more, he said.

It was for fun, he said.

Oh, how he wished he listened to his common sense.

He let out a low, slightly pain groan as he rubbed his temple with his palms, partially lifting the dark blue cap he wore as part of his uniform. His elbows resting on the table of the place's breakroom. He'd try using some ice to soothe, but his manager would make him pay for it.

The ass…

A mild buzzing in his pocket brought him back from his pain, and he slipped one hand down to blindly grab for his phone. After unlocking it, he flicked the screen down to get the notification up.

' _Hey, u at work yet?'_ It was Tanya.

Still rubbing his temple with the one hand, Kyle's fingers glided over the screen, tapping out a reply.

' _Yeah, still suffering :-( '_

He tapped send.

He waited for a few seconds, seeing Tanya had seen the message.

' _Lightweight lol'_

Kyle rolled his eyes slightly, a soft chuckle escaping him. Though it was replaced with a low groan of pain moments later.

' _Meet front of store?'_

Kyle tapped his thumb over the screen. _'Eh, sure. Shift doesn't start for another 5.'_

With that, he slowly stood up, slipping his phone back into his pocket and headed around the table. One hand still pressed against his temple, he headed for the front of the store.

* * *

The door of the classroom woke Isaac up from his light slumber, lifting his head up from being propped up on his elbow.

Several people had entered the room since Isaac last checked, shifting slightly in his seat to sit up straight.

"Finally woke up, did you?"

Isaac flicked slightly, glancing to his left. He really needed to improve his hearing…

It was a girl; wearing a dark grey jacket over a shirt, complete with jeans. Her black hair was about shoulder length, give or take an inch.

"Yeah…" Isaac said slowly, shifting slightly in his seat again. When he spoke, something seemed to catch her attention; she tore her gaze from her phone to side glance at him.

"England, huh?" she asked.

"Uh…yeah…"

Well, someone figured it out faster than he expected them too…

"What's a Brit like you doing in Pax Valley?" she asked.

Isaac shrugged slightly, shifting around to face the girl.

"Grandparents are from here; moved over to England. Dad divorced from my Mum, and she wanted to come to the place her parents were from. And well…here I am."

The girl looked Isaac over for a few seconds, before she finally decided to introduce herself. "Natalie," she said.

"Isaac," he replied.

Natalie nodded slightly, before turning her attention back to her phone.

Isaac rolled his eyes slightly, turning his attention back to the front of the class; the teacher finally decided to start the first lesson.

* * *

"Wow…you look like shit."

"Thanks, Tanya," Kyle replied, sarcasm so thick in his voice, he could've choked on it.

The girl rolled her eyes, leaning her elbows on one of the outside seating of the diner.

"You always were blunt," Kyle muttered, rubbing his hands over his face repeatedly

"You didn't think I'd change over the summer, did ya?" Tanya asked, leaning over to nudge Kyle's shoulder. This caused his arm to slip out from supporting his face. He would've face planted the table if it weren't for his other arm.

Kyle grunted quietly, bringing his arm back to rest on the table. "So, how goes the trainin?"

"It's going alright, I guess; got a trail week at the kick boxing place other side of town next month," she responded, leaning her elbows on the table, crossing her arms over each other.

"Well, good luck with that. Just promise not to use me as a punching bag," Kyle said jokingly, though he felt a slight pang in his stomach when he stopped talking.

Tanya chuckled, flicking a bit of her short, brown hair behind her ear; Kyle remembered a time where Tanya had her hair to at least her shoulders. Now, it was cut rather short. She gave a light punch to his shoulder, yet he still winced at the rough contact.

"You should really stop giving me ideas," she said.

"Yeah, yeah…" Kyle replied, rubbing his shoulder, yet had a smile on his face.

* * *

' _Car 59T, reports of a 415 on 53rd and 17th. Reports say in an alley.'_

One of the officers grabbed the hand piece of the radio, raising it to his lips. "This is car 59T, 10-4. Moving to investigate."

Setting the hand piece back into place, the driving officer took a right at the intersection and drove towards the predesignated streets.

A short drive later, the car pulled up to the curb and the engine was turned off.

"I got this," the driver said to the passenger, a fellow officer, as he opened the door to step out of the vehicle.

"You sure you don't want help?" asked the other officer, slightly younger than the other, leaning over slightly as the first officer stepped out of the cruiser completely.

Leaning down to peer through the door, the older one looked blankly, saying, "I've got this, Seth. I'll get you if needed."

With that, the door closed, the officer walked around the front of the car and headed into the nearby alley; figuring he'd try them one by one until he got to the disturbance.

All was quiet in the police cruiser for the few minutes that followed; the officer known as 'Seth' trying to find something to keep himself occupied. He quickly checked his phone for any updates; just a few Facebook notifications and a new video posted.

And he was just in the middle of double-checking that he had everything he needed on his belt when a noise came from the alley the other officer had entered.

After a quick debate about whether to follow orders for his superior or see if things had gone south, Seth quickly exited the cruiser, shutting the door as he called, "Officer Charles?"

When he got no response, Seth slowly stepped forward, hand resting on the grip of his pistol as he neared the alley.

"Officer Charles?" he asked again, slower this time. Just as he reached the alley's entrance, he froze.

He briefly saw a flash of light grey, and he was flung backwards. Flying through the air, coming crashing down on the bonnet of the police cruiser.

A sharp gasp of pain, followed by groans, came from Seth as he tried to come to terms with what had happened. He tried to move, his body thrown with such force that the bonnet was warped and dented with his imprint.

Standard proceeded began to flash before his eyes, trying to assess his injuries. He was only about to guess at how many bones were broken, however, before the flash of grey reappeared.

It jumped through the arm, a height impossible for a human, blocking out the sun from Seth's vision momentarily. The officer barely had enough time to try moving before the grey blur came crashing down on the bonnet over Seth.

More dents appearing in the metal, the creature stood over Seth momentarily; its head at just the point where it couldn't be seen because of the glint of sunlight.

He tried to speak; to shout, to scream. Anything. But nothing came out. Just…silence.

A low, raspy hiss came from the creature, its pale grey skin clashing with the white bonnet of the cruiser; not that the looming figure was in anyway subtle.

The same hand wrapped around Seth's throat; clawed fingers latching onto the flesh of the human, constricting to restrict air flow. Seth gasped, trying to reach a hand up to pry the fingers from his neck. But his movement was met with immediate response.

The creature moved quickly, dragging the human body from the front of the cruiser and rushing towards the alley. A gargle cry was all that came from Seth, desperate to alert anyway. But the streets were empty.

All the evidence to suggest he was ever there was the ruined police cruiser, the bonnet completely dented in and decal designs for the Pax Valley Police Department cracking from the metal warping. And the blood trail that led from the bonnet, to the sideway, and leading to the alleyway.

* * *

"Are you sure it is them?" said one voice.

" _Sir, I've played and replayed the footage several times over. The templates match; they are the real ones,"_ said another; this one sounding altered and metallic.

"How can this be possible? He was locked away; I saw it happen."

Footsteps echoed through a dark corridor, the smooth walls reflecting any light that passed through the darkness. A single red line passed through the center of the corridor, though slightly to the left.

" _We have to come to the possibility that-"_

"Don't say it; I know what you mean, I just don't like hearing it aloud."

" _Might I suggest a course of action, sir?"_

"Which would be?"

" _Our systems have narrowed down the selection to the correct number; they have the highest concentration of the Bloodlines in them. They are the ones."_

"Absolutely not. I will not have humans take their powers."

" _Sir, will all due respect, they are the dominant species. Whether you like it or not, they are your hope to combat Horror."_

A short pause occurred between the two voices, and the corridor was filled with silence; they had stopped walking, standing in place.

"…I am against this entirely. I hope you realize this."

" _I predicted an eighty-nine percent chance of you disagreeing with my suggestion, sir."_

"Send out the Gatherers. They'll bring them in."

" _At once, sir."_

With that, the sound of walking returned; though instead of a pair overlapping, it was a single set of foot, walking against the surface of the corridor.

The other stood still, seemingly watching the other walk off to wherever they were going.

"May Zeta have mercy on us…"

* * *

"Good God that was a drag."

Isaac muttered quietly to just himself and Natalie as the two of them exited their latest class; the corridor was full of students piling out of their classrooms.

By sheer luck, Isaac and Natalie were in a couple of classes with each other; namely Mathematics and Biology. The latter of which they had just finished.

"Didn't I warn you that Mrs. Winston was a bitch?" Natalie asked Isaac knowingly as she caught up to walk alongside him. They barely had enough room for the two of them to walk side by side with all of the other students to the sides, front and behind them. So they ended up with Isaac walking slightly behind Natalie.

"You could have told my how bad she was," Isaac muttered, fishing his hand into his pocket to gather some money. He had discovered during first break that he had left his lunch at him.

"Well…I kinda did," Natalie said, smirking slightly.

Isaac was about to respond when he was forcefully pushed back; someone had been walking the other way, but Isaac hadn't paid him any attention until their shoulders had collided.

"Watch it," was the warning he had received, turning to look at the guy who had thrown the threat.

He seemed about his height, with short blonde hair that was spiked towards the front. One of his hands were wedged into his jacket pockets; the other was pulled out, most likely from the solid collision seconds earlier.

His dark blue eyes glared at Isaac's brown ones, before turning around and continuing onwards.

Isaac glared at the back of his head for a second before he made to walk after this dick, but something stopped him.

"I wouldn't," Natalie warned, having grabbed his forearm before he could turn completely.

Isaac reluctantly turned around and shook his arm free from Natalie's grip. "What's his problem?" he asked, gesturing behind him.

"That douche? That's Matthew; the resident asshole of the school. Just…Make your life easier, and stay out of his way," Natalie explained, rolling her eyes as she spoke. She seemed to make it clear that she was tired of that guy.

"I'll try to avoid the arsehole," Isaac muttered, his accent coming through as he looked at Natalie.

She blinked once at first, before a smirk broke across her face.

Isaac's shoulders sagged slightly, an annoyed expression playing across his face. "Really? I thought you were mature."

Natalie raised a hand in defense, yet the smirk remained. "Whatever you're into, mate." The put-on British accent playing to Natalie's phrasing.

Isaac sighed heavily, before he said, "Hey, when you're done laughing, I'll meet you in the canteen; I've been holding in a piss since she started the presentation."

Getting a dismissing hand wave, like Natalie didn't want to know (Who wouldn't?), Isaac headed down the corridor, slipping around the other students to head to the closest toilets.

* * *

"So much better…" Isaac sighed internally, doing the zip of his jeans as he stepped away from the urinal, and moved over to the sink.

The male's toilets were unusually quiet, though Isaac figured it was because everyone was rushing to get something to eat. Or have a smoke.

Or both.

Rolling the sleeves of his jacket up, Isaac reached the sink and used his palm to twist the cold water tap. He didn't want to know who had been touching what against those knobs.

Isaac shook his head, rubbing his hands together under the running water. The skin on his forearms formed in goosebumps quickly in reaction to the temperature, but he quickly pushed it aside as he cleaned his hands.

That was when it started.

The pair of long, thin lights fitted in the ceiling started to flicker slightly; flashing between full brightness and dimly lit, creating an annoying flashing effect.

"What the…?" Isaac asked to himself in a hushed tone, looking over one shoulder before turning to look over the other. Shaking his hands dry, rubbing the remaining water off on his trousers.

Yet he was still the only one in there.

All of a sudden, the lights went off entirely. Covering Isaac in darkness.

"Oh come on…" he groaned, before turning around slowly and called out. "Very funny! Flicking the lights on and off on the new kid? What are you, 12?"

No response came from outside.

Isaac rolled his eyes, reaching into his pocket and fished out his phone. "Where's that flashlight app..?" he asked himself, flicking his password in naturally, and began searching through the pile of apps he had to hand on his phone.

Selecting the flashlight app, a bright white light came flooding from the small bulb of his phone, illuminating the darkened toilets.

He looked around slowly, the light of the phone guiding his vision.

Though he didn't expect what he saw…to see.

"The fuck?!" he exclaimed, quickly stepping back and flinching his arms to his side; in doing so, he lost his grip on his phone and it fell to the ground. Bu some miracle, the phone landed so the back of the phone was facing upward. Shining the light evenly around the room.

Before him, looming like something from someone's nightmares, stood a figure. It looked roughly eight feet tall; towering over the cubical next to him. Though because of his stance, hunched over slightly, it made it difficult to make out any minor details; the light only catching so much.

But one thing that stood out was a pair of burning eyes; dark red orbs staring down at Isaac with an intense stare. As if daring Isaac to look away. Look away, and discover the consequences.

Or stare back for too long and suffer the same consequences.

Honestly, this was being put to the back of Isaac's mind for now.

Isaac's currently mind set was;

' _Ohshitohshitohshit-I'm gonna die-ohshitohshitohshit-What the fuck is that thing?!-ohshitohshitohSHIT!'_

A deep, throaty growl broke the deafening silence; the vibrations passing through Isaac as if he was a glass window. It was at this point that Isaac's discovered that he was still breathing; albeit extremely shakily.

Was this thing going to kill him?

His vision was then consumed by a blindingly bright red light; he's eyes squinted and he raised his hands to try and save his vision. He figured enough was enough and tried to turn and rush towards the door of the bathroom.

That was when the burning sensation overcame him; he shouted out, feeling the rippling heat travel from his extremities first, working along his arms and legs, moving towards his torso. He crumpled to his hands and knees, trying to make it to the door.

He tried reaching for the handle, the burning feeling slowly overcoming him to the point that it was completely unbearable. He fell against the door, his body twisting so he was facing the looming figure; where the waves of heat and light were coming from.

His eyes slowly rolled back, and his body went limp; slumping against the door.

The blinding light was then replaced with a flash of bright white; rippling around the room, much like when a rock is thrown into a smooth pond surface.

The ripples suddenly froze, but the ripples started returning to the source; creating a metallic _whooshing_ sound, and concentrated into a small ball. Before vanishing into thin air.

Except now, the bathroom was vacant; completely empty. All that occupied the room was a rucksack, slumped against the wall beside the sinks.

* * *

"You're telling me that nobody saw this?"

Police tape surrounded the scene; surrounding the police cruiser with the dented bonnet, and the trail of blood leading from the cruiser to the nearby alley. The taped-off area also included the width of the street; to the farthest piece of shattered glass.

Officers were crawling over the scene; some wore surgical gloves, taking pictures of the numbered pieces of evidence for analysis. Others followed the photographers, carefully taking the evidence and placing them into zip-seal bags, to send to be cataloged.

Two officers stood outside the tape-off area, discussing the situation.

"Sir, we're going to the apartments opposite the scene to see if they saw anything. We'll find out soon."

The other officer took off his hat, running his other hand through his short grey hair; this, combined with the few wrinkles that covered his face, signified his age.

"Anything from their radios?" the older officer asked, placing his hat back on his head; adjusting it with both hands to make sure it sat right.

"We haven't been able to find them; their cruiser radio was damaged by…whatever caused this," the younger officer said, gesturing to the ruined cruiser behind them.

"And the blood trail?" the older officer asked.

"It's…well…you should come see it…" the younger officer said, a slightly unsure tone to his voice, before carefully lifting the police tape, and bending over to fit under.

The older officer followed suite, the tape being lowered afterwards. They walked around the crime scene, making sure to watch where they stood.

They walked along the sidewalk, turning the corner at the alley; walking into the alley, where a couple of officers had been sent to ensure no-one tampered with the evidence.

The two came to a stop, standing beside the blood trail; the older officer slowly crouching down, his eyes moving along the blood trail. From where it entered the alley, to the point that he crouched beside.

"What the hell…?" he asked himself, seeing the trail just…end. The end was clean; no evidence of it being washed away; the line that ended the trail was curved cleanly; like it was a side of a circle.

"The boys got anything for this…?" he asked, gesturing to the strange break in the blood while looking up to the other officer.

"They haven't seen anything like it either, sir," was the response.

A low exhale left the older officer, standing to his full height again.

"I don't like this…if there's something attack my officers, I want it taken care of; quickly."

* * *

A sharp pain to the side of his neck brought him back to consciousness.

Isaac gasped loudly, his eyes shooting open; breathing deeply and loudly, the sheer brightness of wherever he was causing his eyes to squint shut again. He couldn't make much out of his surroundings, other than a blurred shape hovering above him.

" _Good; you have regained consciousness,"_ said a voice, altered to appear more robotic; the shadow over Isaac moved away, and his eyes eventually started to adjust to the brightness of the room.

He slowly raised his head, his brain throbbing like it was two sizes too big for his skull, and looked around.

The first thing he noticed was what he was sitting in; it appeared to be a metal chair, the back pushed back and his legs propped up. The next thing he noticed when he tried to move his arms.

He looked down, seeing his wrists, ankles and upper legs were held firmly in place by curved metal plates; he tried moving, but the plates held him in place.

"Where the fuck am I?!" he shouted, straining to turn his head to keep the shadow in his line of sight. But the plates restricted the movement of his body.

" _Please refrain from using such language. You are in no danger,"_ said the person, the sound of faint beeping coming from behind Isaac.

"No danger? No danger?! Then why the hell I'm I restrained?!" Isaac exclaimed, struggling roughly against his bounds.

" _It was merely to ensure that you did not move while I tested your vitals. There are variables that make Gatherer teleportation potentially dangerous. They cannot make accurate measurements, adjusting for body proportion and size, and many others,"_ came the voice, before the sound of footsteps grew loud.

Though there was something Isaac found off…whatever the surface was, it made the footsteps sound heavier than normal. Then there was that metal _clink_ …maybe steel-toed shoes?

His theory was quickly shot down, when his adjusted eyes saw…whatever it was, for what it…was.

It appeared as a humanoid robot; the body was made of a mixture of dark grey and smooth steel colored panels, with bolt ends visible that held panels together. Small pistons attached from the front and back of his torso, connecting to the underside of its head. Acting as additional support for the neck.

Its hands appeared like dull-clawed hands; smooth grey metal, welded together for the small panels. Still, there were a few exposed wires and tubes that were made between where the different body parts connected.

The head…well, to put it bluntly, it appeared like a sleek, robotic version of a canine's head. There were small protrusions near the back, looking similar to folded back ears. The same steel grey panels made up the panels of the head. The 'mouth' piece extended forward, looking like a sleek, lupine muzzle.

Where the eyes were was a blank rectangle, with a single red light in the middle of the black box. It reminded Isaac of those old digital alarm clocks.

The robot…thing then proceeded to undo the restrains holding Isaac in place; starting with the ones on his ankles, and finishing with the plate holding his right wrist in place.

" _Please, if you could come this way…"_ said the robot, as Isaac slowly sat up, rubbing his wrists slowly. He glanced up to the robot, slowly turning around to kick his legs off of the chair.

"And how do I know you aren't taking me to be tortured or something?" Isaac asked slowly.

There was a brief pause before he got a response.

" _You do not. You must trust me, Isaac Bryne."_

Isaac blinked slowly, lifting his head. "How the hell do you know my name?"

He didn't get a response; instead, the robot turned and moved towards one of the walls. As he approached, a large panel slid up, leaving a doorway for the robot to walk through.

Isaac looked all around him slowly, searching for another exit. Not finding any apart from the recently revealed, he decided to try his luck. Maybe he'd find another exit shortly…

Getting to his feet, he slowly headed out of the room after the robot, following it down the dimly lit corridor.

The light seemed to follow them during their walk down the corridor; the dim lighting from the seam where the ceiling and the wall met moving with them, giving them some light.

"Where are we going?" Isaac asked wearily.

" _I have not been given permission to say,"_ was the response he got.

"OK….Who…gives you permission?"

The answer he got wasn't verbal; they had just reached the end of the corridor, and the robot side-stepped; allowing Isaac to see in front of him.

And what he saw was the last thing he expected.

"The fuck are you doing here?" He asked Natalie.

"You think I know?" came the snap of a response.

Natalie was leaning against the far wall, arms folded across her front. But she wasn't alone in the large room.

There were four others; one he recognized as that douchebag Matthew, his hands moving about in his pockets as some sort of distraction, and the other two humans were two he didn't recognize.

The fourth…

"Shit…" he said slowly, eyes wide.

Arms folded over his chest, the fourth figure was a behemoth of a creature; canine in appearance, standing on its hind legs. Thick black fur covered the entire of his visible body; his lower torso, thankfully, was covered by a pair of dark grey trousers. Though from the dirty and worn appearance, they were old.

His torso was mostly exposed, save for his arms and back, which were covered in a long, black trench-coat. The sleeves were rolled up to the elbow point.

A pair of dark yellow eyes stared intently at Isaac upon his entry into the room.

"Let's get to business," the creature grunted quietly, getting up from leaning against a desk and turning around.

"Are you finally going to explain where the fuck we are?" asked one of the other people, the female, in an angered tone.

"I…wouldn't piss him off, Tanya," Kyle muttered, stepping forward to try and calm his friend; though quickly stepped back when she yank her arm from his grasp.

A loud, possibly exaggerated, sigh escaped the lungs of the wolf creature, as it tapped away at an unseen keyboard.

"In short…" he eventually said, tapping one last key and turning around. Just as a hologram, stretching from the ceiling to the floor of the central control port, glowing a faint blue.

"Your city is under siege from the pits of Hell itself, and you're going to have to fight them back. I'm Savage, the robot is MUTT, and no, you-"

"Wow, wow, wow. Time out. L-Let's just take, like, fifteen steps back first," Tanya said, raising her hands as she stepped forward from the group. "Firstly, just so we-we're all on the same page here. What the _fuck_ are you?! Where the hell are we, and what makes you think we're capable of doing…whatever it is you expect us to do?!"

Savage just looked back at Tanya at her raising her voice at him; an expression playing across his face that only said 'I really don't have time for your shit'.

The remaining teens looked across at each other, Matthew pulling his hands from his pockets and folding his arms over his chest; Kyle shifted slightly from one foot to the other, while Natalie remained leaning against the wall.

Isaac slipped his hands into his trouser pockets, watching the central holographic column with a bit of interest.

Savage looked over the five human teens; his sharp yellow eyes watching the subtle movements of each of them as they stared back. Eventually, he let out a frustrated growl and folded his hands behind his back. Screwing one of his clawed hands into a tight fist, while the other firmly held the wrist of the other.

"MUTT," Savage growled, flicking his head from the humanoid robot to one of the keyboards.

The lupine-headed robot nodded slightly, moving across the room to stand at the central command stand, tapping a few of the keys. He then grabbed a pair of hanging cables and plugged them into the ports in his forearm.

The blue holographic column flickered slightly, MUTT tapped a few of the keys on the keyboard, and activated a small screen on his forearm, sliding a few settings on the touch screen.

The blue hologram slowly narrowed, before flipping around so it was lying flat in midair; different areas rising up, giving the appearance of a city's skyline.

After a few seconds, the hologram warped into an irregular shape, and eventually became a shape the humans recognized.

The borders of Pax Valley.

" _As you can see, you are currently located five miles south of the human settlements' border,"_ MUTT explained, highlighting a small red blip, towards the bottom end of the hologram.

" _The threat that Savage, the_ Homo Lupus, _mentioned is an entity that has been documented as Master Horror."_

"Bit melodramatic," Tanya muttered, having moved back to stand beside Kyle; since, frankly, he was the only one she knew, and didn't want to get to know these other guys yet.

MUTT continued, as if he wasn't interrupted. _"Most humans don't know him as such; he was from an early enough date that they wrote it off as a myth. Around 10,000 years ago, during what you humans know as the Mesolithic Period, Master Horror used fear and hatred to take control of the early human species. But another species, at the time, fought back."_

" _The_ Homo Lupus," MUTT side glanced at Savage, who had retreated to one of the walls of the room, leaning his back against it as the robot gave a debriefing to the humans.

" _A species that remained hidden to keep themselves from the Humans; fearing they would be hunted for the fur. They were thought of a myth as well by the primitive humans."_

" _Horror was sealed away by five warriors of the_ Homo Lupus, _gifted with extraordinary abilities, but at the cost of their lives. But…recent activity and footage has come forward to suggest…Horror has escaped."_

"Wait…what activity?" Isaac asked when MUTT fell silent, causing looks to be drawn to him from the other teens; raised eyebrows, and hand gestures for 'what are you doing?'

MUTT adjusted one of the settings on his forearm, before tapping a command into the keyboard. The map of Pax Valley, and was momentarily replaced with static. Though this was quickly replaced with the image of a street. It was completely bare, save for a police cruiser that was in view of the screen, and two figures.

One was standing over the other, both of which were on the bonnet of the cruiser, which appeared to be severely dented.

One looked human, while the other…had the vague shape and outline of a human. But…its skin was a sickly pale grey, with large spots of black covering, adding bulk to the upper torso, forearms and legs. No facial features could be made out, from the position and the distance away from the camera.

"What the hell is that thing?" Kyle asked, taking a step forward to get a better look; the others following his example.

"A Wolkein," Savage's voice finally returned, stepping off from the wall and walking towards the floating image. "A mindless soldier; following his master's orders mindlessly."

"And if Wolkeins are starting to appear in the Human World, then Horror and his Generals will soon follow.

Tanya and Isaac stepped forward, leaning forward to get a better look at the creature; both side glancing at each other, before Tanya took a side-step from Isaac.

"So-and just so you know, I'm really looking forward to this answer-, how do you expect us to fight those things, exactly?" Matthew asked, gesturing with his hand to the image. Sarcasm heavy in his tone.

" _The five of you were chosen because you have the highest concentration of the original Warriors blood; and the Howlers only work with the bloodline of the Warriors they bonded with."_

"Wait, wait, wait; time out," Natalie said suddenly, making the 'time-out' gesture. "We've got the same blood as those warriors, who are like Wolfman over there?"

" _That is correct, yes,"_ MUTT said, as Natalie received a growl from Savage.

"So…what you're saying is…at some point…Humans and those…Wolf-People…" Natalie fell silent, letting the gesture she was making fill in for her.

"Let's get back on track; what's a Howler?" Isaac asked, seeing this conversation turning south very quickly.

"Dude, seriously; you could've picked a better time to ask that than now," Kyle said.

"Well someone had to ask it eventually," Isaac responded hotly.

"You could have waiting five fucking minutes," Tanya shot, looking at Isaac with a disapproving look.

"Pretty sure Wolfie over there would've been pissed off if we waited five minutes before we asked that question," Matthew threw in his two-cent.

The five teens continued to argue among themselves for a few minutes, as MUTT looked over at Savage; his lip slowly curling up, revealing sharpened fangs, while a low growl steadily rose in his throat.

The arguing was cut short all of a sudden, as one of the small monitors was ripped from its place on the desk, and thrown at the teens.

Isaac and Tanya ducked by instinct, barely avoiding the flying tech; instead, it collided with the wall and shattered into several pieces.

"What the hell?!" Isaac exclaimed.

"You are wasting time arguing among yourselves; a Pack must work in harmony with each other in order to achieve victory," Savage growled, before he crouched down and picked something up from an open panel from where he had thrown the monitor.

He stood up again, and turned around; revealing a medium-sized, wooden box in his hands. Gold plating covered the top panel, looking ceremonial. As if it was something meant for those of nobility.

"A Pack is made up of five members," Savage started, his tone giving the hint that this was the start of one of those long speeches.

"A leader, brutes, strategist and diversion. A group kept to the bare minimum of numbers, yet using their abilities to ensure victory," Savage started, before he unclasped the lock at the front of the box, and slowly placing his paw on the lid.

"These…" he slowly raised the lid, revealing the contents inside.

"…are your Howlers."

In the box, lined with dark red velvet, were five devices. They were all thin, looking as though they would easily fit onto someone's wrist. At the center of the devices, sat a circular gem; a different color for each device. The first was a dark red, followed by a navy-colored one, a yellow gem, a black gem, and finally, a clear, transparent gem.

Silver lines ran down the length of the devices, curving around the gem at the center. The rest of the device was black in color, making the silver and the gems stand out more so.

"Wow…" Kyle said softly, crouching down slightly to take a closer look at the Howlers.

Savage grabbed the first two in one hand, and handed the red-gem centered one to Isaac and the navy gem to Matthew. "Take these, and you will have powers beyond your imagination," he said as the two humans took their Howlers, examining them closely.

"So…how do these work?" Isaac asked, looking over the Howler as Tanya, Kyle and Natalie cautiously took the remaining Howlers offered to them.

"Place them on your bare wrist," Savage said, and the five teens looked at one another. Give or take a few seconds, they all placed the Howlers on their wrists.

So none of them had any forewarning from the others.

"Ow!" "Fuck!"

A stabbing sensation sliced into the back of their wrist, and they instinctively tried to remove the Howlers from their wrist.

But before they could, thick leather bound extended from the base of the Howlers, wrapping around their wrists and seemingly fusing together when both ends met.

"The Howlers need to ensure that the right blood is using them," Savage remarked offhandedly, closing the box and placing it to one side. "As for how to activate them, you say 'United, we Howl' and slide the crystal backwards."

"Now, as for training…" Savage started, before a sudden alarm went off on one of the remaining monitors.

MUTT disconnected himself from the wires, and approached the blaring monitor. _"Sir, Wolkeins had been sighted."_

"Where?" Savage said sharply, approaching the monitor and ended up shoving MUTT aside to look at the monitor directly.

"East District…" Savage muttered, before turning to look at the five teens; still trying to see how to remove the Howlers.

"Looks like the training will have to be postponed to a later date," he said, moving to a control panel and tapping a few keys and turning a few dials. "I'm sending you five to the location; hopefully, it'll just be Wolkeins."

"And if it isn't?" Natalie asked.

"May Zeta have mercy on your souls."

"Wait!" Matthew exclaimed, "You son of a-!"

He was cut short by columns of light engulfing the five teens, filling the white-light filled room and eventually disappearing. Along with the light, the teens were absent as well.

" _I would have advised giving them at least a brief talk about how they fight,"_ MUTT said once the lighting faded.

"I prefer the hands-on approach."

* * *

Five columns of light shot down in an alley, the blue and white columns forming behind the red, yellow and black columns. Mixed voices of panic came warping through the lights, before bodies came flying from the light; landing roughly on the concrete floor.

The light vanished, revealing the group of teenagers crumpled on the floor; Matthew had landed against the wall, Tanya and Kyle had both landed on their backs, both groaning in pain. Natalie and landed on her front, a small cut forming on her forehead from the collision.

Isaac pushed himself to his feet, having landed on his front too, and wiped a bit of blood away from the corner of his mouth.

"-bitch…" Matthew said slowly, groaning as he pushed himself to his feet.

"That could have gone smoother…" Tanya muttered, pushing herself up and offering a hand to help Kyle up; he took up the offer, taking her hand and pulling himself to his feet.

Sudden screams from the alley brought their attention back to the reason why they had come here in the first place. "Come one," Isaac muttered, before running to the alley entrance. The others tried to shake off the teleportation effects and headed after Isaac.

They were met with the swarm of people running the other way; they needed to side step and bump past people in order to keep moving forward. The shouts and screams from the people drowned out all other noises.

"Where are these things?!" Matthew shouted, as the crowd died down and they were almost by themselves.

"I don't know…" Isaac said, walking forward yet turning around, making sure to walk the same direct.

"Guys! Over there!"

The others all looked over to where Kyle pointed, and their blood ran cold.

"Oh shit…"

At the other end of the clear area in the middle of the tall buildings, a mass of the creatures Savage identified as Wolkeins were moving; they were all the same shade of sickly-pale grey, making it hard to make individual ones out. The only thing that helped seeing individuals was the black armor they wore.

Upper chest plates covered their chests and shoulders, going around their neck to cover the back. The same kind of armor covered their arms, from the elbow point to their wrists; something similar was going on with their shins.

"Those things look fugly," Tanya said bluntly.

As hearing the teen speak, one of the Wolkeins turned its head sharply to the source of the sound; revealing no facial features dominating its face. Just scars digging into the 'skin' and deformities.

Gravelly grunts came from this Wolkein, alerting the others. They all turned to look at the five teens, who stepped back from instinct, as they began drawing nearer to the teens.

"Well…let's see if Wolfie was telling the truth…" Natalie said, and they all looked to their Howlers.

"You guys ready?" Isaac asked, side glancing both ways.

"Ready."

"Ready."

"Ready."

"Ready."

They brought their Howler-wrist across their chest, the other hand coming to press against the crystal at the center. At the touch, the crystals began glowing.

"United, we Howl!"

The five press the crystal at the center of their respective Howlers', the light from the crystals intensifying as they moved the crystal back the length of the device. The light grew brighter, differentiating themselves from each other by forming into the different colors of the teens, overcoming the teens and obscuring them from view.

 **~Morphing Sequence~**

A stream of light shot out from the gems, extending out before the teens. Taking the outline of a wolf, the light shot into a curved stream, moving up into the sky. The motion the light wolves made as they moved through the air simulating running; as if they were running on solid ground, rather than simply moving through the air.

Performing a loop in the air, the light wolves shot into the air behind their teen, eventually landing on the ground, a few meters behind their human. Once settled, they leapt forward, looking as though were going to collide with the human body. But before making contact, they flipped backward, so their underbelly made contact with the back of the teen.

Their limbs move to the same position of the humans, wrapping around their limbs and torso; covering them in a mixture of silver and their respective colors. Their head was raised, before lowering it through the human head. Their muzzles opened up in a low snarl, and the space between the jaws was filled with the black visor for the teens; the shapes vaguely different with each teen.

With this, the rest of the suits began forming; silver-furred paws wrapped around their arms, leaving silver gloves and sleeves covered in their respective color, ending at the shoulder, which was covered in a slim, silver shoulder pad. Something similar happened to their legs; silver boots, with a thick black line around the sides of the legs, with their respective colors filling in the rest.

The black line continued, passing over the sides of the torso, and ending at the armpit point; large gouges of black escaping into the core color on either side of the torso.

To finish things off, a stylized wolf head appeared over their hearts, embedding itself into the armor.

 **~Morphing Sequence Ends~**

The Wolkeins pause in their advances, yet their bodies kept moving continuously, shifting their weight from one side to the other; like whatever was powering their bodies required them to keep moving.

They stood there, looking at the spot where the five teens had once been standing; now, in their place, stood five colored warriors; silver boots and gloves, shoulder and forearm armor added to their bodies, while the rest was covered in one of five colors; red, blue, yellow, black and white.

" _Wow…this is weird…"_ said Kyle, breaking from the initial trance of morphing, and looking over his silver-and-black armored body.

" _This is amazing!"_ Matthew exclaimed, rolling his shoulder once to see how the armor fitted with the spandex-like armor. His hands then flew to his throat and he said, _"What the hell's up with my voice?"_

" _Perhaps it's worth mentioning that I made some…modifications to the Howlers when activated,"_ MUTT's voice said, echoing between the helmets the teens wore.

" _Distorted voices…could have been worse,"_ Isaac muttered to himself, before looking back towards the Wolkeins.

" _You guys want to test run these things?"_ Tanya asked, cracking the knuckles of her silver-glove covered hands, stretching the sides of her neck.

" _No time like the present,"_ Natalie agreed, taking a step forward; rolling her white-and-silver armored shoulders.

" _Let's do it,"_ Isaac replied, the five of them all taking a step forward so they were level with each other; trying an intimidation attempt.

The creatures didn't seem fazed, however, as they suddenly advanced; the sound of a mass of heavy footsteps pounding against the ground. The teens quickly followed, running towards the group of pale skinned Wolkeins

The two groups collided, fist and daggers flying, trying to make contact with the other group. The pale Wolkein bodies getting knocked to the ground, some colliding with the sides of the close buildings.

Isaac throws a few wide punches to a couple of Wolkeins in front of him, before ducking when one tried to swipe at him from the side; returning the attack with a kick, colliding with the side of one of its knees, causing the creature to collapse to one knee.

It looked up to strike the red-armored warrior again, but was met with a solid knee to its 'face'; sending it flying back, colliding with another pair of foot soldiers.

" _Wow…_ " Isaac said; surprise evident in his voice, despite the artificial distortion.

" _Stay focused!"_ called Tanya's voice, as she grabbed a Wolkein's shoulder, and using the newly gifted strength, throwing it behind her; flinging him into a group of three Wolkeins, sending them crashing to the ground. Only for the thrown one to get up again and the four joining the others again.

" _These guys really don't like staying down,"_ Kyle commented, dodging a flying fist coming towards him, but getting knocked to the ground from an attack from behind. He quickly rolled out of the way when one tried to stamp on his back.

" _MUTT, got anything for us?"_ Isaac asked, dodging a series of incoming attacks, shifting around the group focused on him as he tried getting the robot up on the comms.

" _Slide the crystal to the front-most position,"_ came MUTT's voice, broadcasting to all five teens' helmets.

" _You guys get that?"_ Isaac called, grabbing a Wolkein by the throat and, using his other hand, choke-slammed the creature to the concrete. A shallow dent appearing once the creature slowly got up again.

" _What do you think?!"_ Tanya shouted, in her hands a bow and arrow; clad in silver and yellow, yet without any elastic from the ends that is with the traditional bow.

Yet as Tanya pulled the invisible band back, a transparent yellow arrow forming in its space. Her hand went loose, releasing the energy arrow. It flew through the air silently. It collided with one of the Wolkeins' head, slicing through the skin like it was nothing. This particular Wolkein fell to the ground, motionless; green goo oozing out of the entry point.

" _News to me,"_ Natalie called, dodging a strike while moving the crystal to its front-most point; a burst of white light came from the Howler, moving to her hands. Grabbing the handles that formed, Natalie saw white blades form from the light.

" _Daggers…nice…"_ the white-clad warrior said, before dodging and stabbing another attack from a Wolkein; digging the blade right into the torso of one of the creatures. It let out a screech-like wail, as Natalie pushed it off of the blade, and fell to the ground.

Matthew and Kyle seemed to have gotten the message by this point; Matthew had a spear in hand, matching blue and silver with his blue-and-silver armoring. Swinging around the blunt end of the spear, smacking the Wolkeins' across the face, before stabbing the same ones with the sharpened point.

Kyle, meanwhile, had a pair of, what appeared to be, knuckle dusters; black and silver in color, and a bit larger than what you would expect. They were pretty much covering his entire hand, and were secured by locking into place with the armored forearms.

He threw a few punches to the chests of the Wolkeins, sending them flying back with screeches ringing out as they collided with the walls.

Isaac raised his Howler to move the crystal along, when he heard a sound that caught his attention; and judging from their reaction, it also caught several Wolkeins' attention as well.

A siren.

' _Oh shit…'_ Isaac thought to himself when he saw a police cruiser screech to a halt on the nearby road. Two officers quickly jumped out, looking between each other as they saw the fight that'd been reported in.

Something about weird grey people fighting brightly-colored people.

Isaac was torn from the officers when the Wolkeins suddenly charged towards the officers, seeing them as weaker targets to take out.

" _Crap!"_ Isaac said, quickly following after the stragglers, breaking apart from the rest of the group, heading towards the officers.

"Stand down!" shouted one of the officers, the pair of them pulling the standard issue pistol from their holsters, aiming them towards the charging crowd. Yet not one of them stopped.

"Stand still; this is your final warning!"

Still, the group kept running towards them.

Isaac ran behind him, trying to overtake them to get to the officers first. And then the bullets started firing.

The bullets sliced through the grey flesh of the Wolkeins, passing through one before hitting another behind. Despite this, they kept running; the bullet holes healing themselves up, mere moments after the bullets passed through them.

Isaac, by nature of, you know, not wanting to die, flinched and raised his hands; praying that none of the bullets made contact with him. Though he suddenly felt small contacts with his body; yet no searing pain.

He opened his eyes behind his visor again, and found that none of the bullets had penetrated the suit; not even any marks. Though he looked up when he noticed the group of Wolkeins again; baring down further on the outnumbered officers.

And that was when…something happened.

Isaac didn't know how it happened, but one moment, everything was moving normally, but the next…everything seemed to slow down.

He saw the Wolkeins' charging as if they were in slow motion; the officers' pistols kicking back painfully slow with every shot fired.

' _What is this…?'_ he asked himself, looking down at his hands; he moved them around, seeing that they were still moving at normal speed. Or at what he assumed was normal speed….

Adding this to the questions he'd asked MUTT later, he focused back on the officers; quickly moving towards them, sliding around the slow movement of the Wolkeins, and approaching the other side of the police cruiser.

Looking between the two officers, Isaac finally settled on grabbing the shoulder of both officers, and moving down the street.

When he got to the second-street over, everything seemed to catch up with him; the officers noticed someone had grabbed their shoulders and forced themselves free of Isaac's grip, aiming their weapons at them.

" _I wouldn't point a gun at someone that saved your ass,"_ Isaac commented, taking a step away from officers regardless, hands raised slightly instinctively.

"Who are you?!" demanded one of the officers.

Beneath the helmet, Isaac bit back a comment, settling on, _"You'll find out soon. Now if you don't mind, I gotta go help my friends."_

Without another word exchanged, Isaac turned and ran back the way he came; hoping the others had managed to finish off the last of the Wolkeins.

As he left, the two officers looked between each other, before the older officer holstered his pistol and grabbed his personal radio.

"Dispatch; that report on the fight in East Town? You're not going to believe this…"

Isaac ran back through the alley he had ran through, seeing the other four together; Matthew finishing off one of the last Wolkeins with a spear through the head, as it writhed in pain for a few seconds, before falling still. Matthew removed the spear, and green ooze slowly started to escape the wound.

" _That the last of them?"_ Isaac asked, looking around at the mass of dead bodies surrounding the area.

" _Looks to be,"_ Tanya replied, setting one end of her bow against the ground; supporting her hand on the other end.

As the five met up again, thin grey mist slowly started to rise from the Wolkeins; seemingly coming from the open wounds the Rangers tore in their flesh.

However, as it started to growth denser, Natalie was the first to notice and point it out to the others. _"Uh, guys…"_ she said, gesturing to the point she spotted.

The others turned, before noticing that the same thing was happening all around them; the Wolkeins' bodies becoming blocked from view with dense green smoke. The bodies slowly lowered, as if the green smoke was letting them pass through the solid concrete.

By the time the green smoke dispersed, the bodies were no longer visible; yet there weren't any holes in the surface where they had passed through.

" _OK…that's weird…"_ Kyle commented.

" _MUTT, we've finished up here. Reckon we can get a transport from here?"_ Isaac said, unsure of what the best thing was to talk to MUTT; raising his hand to the side of his helmet, seeing that helped.

It seemed to get through, however, when the five of them were encased in their respective columns of light, and in an instant, they vanished.

Though they didn't go unnoticed; the police cruiser that still remained from the officers called to the scene just so happened to face the teens…

* * *

" _You know, I'd appreciate it..._ if you'd give us a heads up," Kyle said, taking his helmet off mid-sentence, the result creating a faint hiss from the disconnection.

" _I had orders to bring you back as soon as possible,"_ MUTT responded automatically, as the remaining Rangers removed their own helmets; faint hisses following their removal as well.

"We kicked ass!" Matthew said upon removing his helmet, carrying the helmet under his arm.

"That was pretty insane…" Natalie agreed, setting her helmet down on one of the counters beside her.

"But, amazing," Kyle insisted, placing his helmet down on another counter, above an old keyboard.

"Do not sound so satisfied."

The teens all turned to face Savage as the anthro wolf approached, arms clasped behind his back as the ever present scowl on his muzzle because visible.

"This is simply the first wave…Horror must be tested the waters, seeing the world has changed since he last tried to rule. He must have figured that it would be easy to conquer the humans. But, you five proved him wrong; that makes you five more of a target. Starting from tomorrow, I will be training the five of you to prepare you for what you're about to face," Savage said, walking across the five teens; much like the army commanders when faced with recruits.

"Way to bring the fucking mood down," Tanya commented dryly. "We did a good job, and you say that. Jeez, didn't they teach you decency?"

Isaac's eyes then widened, and he said, "Crap! Classes."

"Shit…" Natalie said.

"New record I suppose…" was Matthew's response.

* * *

"Interesting…" said a feminine voice.

"I thought the Warriors were destroyed with the Master's sealing…"

"By the looks of it, Fear, you were incorrect," the female voice hissed quietly.

"Try to refrain from being so petty, Batibat," said a male voice.

The two creatures, humanoid in shape, stood before a small portal of dark green and black smoke; swirling around, like water when forming a whirlpool.

An image sat in the middle of the smoke whirlpool; showing the five, multi-colored warriors standing among the bodies of the fallen foot soldiers.

"We should inform the Master," said the female voice, moving when the figure walked around the whirlpool; the faintest tint of red-tipped black hair visible, leading up to a pale face. Thin red lips, and one green eye visible.

"The Master most likely knows already; their powers are hardly subtle," responded the male voice, the faint light from the projected image revealing some of his physical appearance. Light grey complexion, with dulled, bronze armor covering his forearms, and moving up the length of his arm. Not enough light being given off to get a better look.

"Who gave them the powers if all of the Warriors were destroyed, though?"

"We may know soon enough…Soon, we may know…"

* * *

 **So, there we go; the first episode of the 40-something planned completed! :D**

 **Would you guys prefer it if I uploaded it part by part for an episode, or prefer an entire episode uploaded in one chapter? Let me know.**

 **-Nf991**

* * *

 **UPDATE: 13/5/2016**

 **At the suggestion of my Beta, and a few readers, I have decided to put full Episodes up in single chapters. The only episodes that shall be split up will be the two-parters.**

 **-Nf991**


	3. Episode 2 - Rise of Steel

**Here it is; the complete second episode of the Wolf Pack fic. Hope you guys enjoy :)**

 **As always, props to Charlotte 'Charlie' Hartley for the assistance as Beta.**

 **-Nf991**

* * *

Episode 2 - The Rise of Steel

Isaac took a seat at one of the few empty tables in the canteen. It was about half-way through lunch break, but he had only just been let out by his teacher. They didn't seem to take so kindly to him skipping class the other day.

Nor did they like his excuse; forgetting what period he had wasn't the most original.

Or convincing…

He grunted quietly to himself, hand going to press his side; compressing the large bruise that plastered the skin underneath the top he wore.

"Damn Wolkein…" he muttered to himself, holding the irritated skin for a few seconds before pulling back again, resting his forearms across the table.

"Still tender, hmm?"

Isaac was jerked from his thoughts at the voice, and the presence of two people near him. He looked across to see Matthew take the seat across from him, a sour look sporting his face, as Natalie took the seat beside him.

"Who shat in your cereal?" Isaac commented, gesturing to Matthew's face.

Matthew raised an eyebrow slightly at the comment, resting his crossed forearms on the table as Natalie said, "I figured it'd be better for the three of us to hang out more; since, you know…"

She gestured to her covered wrist; Isaac glancing at his own, involuntarily tugging at his sleeve to make sure the Howler was covered. Despite the seemingly bulky nature of the device, it seemed rather easy to hide.

"And Kyle and Tanya? What about the two of them?"

"Got them on Facebook," Natalie replied without hesitation, taking out her phone and opening the Facebook App.

"See?"

Isaac looked, and saw that, true to her word, Natalie had the other two of them in a Group Chat. He saw a few exchanges between the three of them, but didn't notice anything important by the time Natalie took her phone away again.

Matthew eventually shifted a hand into his pocket and cleared his throat slightly to get the others' attention; taking his phone out, and flicking through it as he spoke.

"I'm not sure if you two noticed yet, but…" he pressed his screen one last time and turned his phone around to face the others.

It showed a video, capturing the five colored warriors-them-, fighting the grey-and-black blurs that made up the Wolkeins. The quality wasn't anything amazing, but you could make out the five of them.

"Who the hell took this?" Natalie whispered, guiding the phone closer to her to have a better look.

"My guess is that police cruiser; all that shit around the screen, like that stuff you see on those 'Police, Action and Crashes' programs."

"Everyone only watches it for the crashes," Isaac commented, before leaning over to have a better look. He looked down, and found that the video's views were already in the 100,000's.

"Looks like we were kinda lucky; but let's try and be more…subtle."

Natalie gave Isaac a look. "'Subtle'? Five, brightly colored guys and girls fighting faceless creatures? Oh yes, the very essence of subtly."

Isaac rolled his eyes and Matthew muffled a light snicker as he turned his phone off, slipping it back into his pocket.

* * *

"Have you seen the video yet?" Kyle asked into his phone.

" _I'm pretty sure most people in Pax Valley, and probably most of the country, have seen it. Myself included,"_ Tanya's voice said over the phone.

"Well, it's making the local news channels now," Kyle replied, taking the controller of the break room's television, flicking through the channels until he reached the local radio station, Pax News 15, aka, PN15.

" _In other news, it seems like the newest team of Power Rangers have made themselves known. And right here in our town,"_ said the female news anchor.

"Huh, good timing; it's on now," Kyle said, setting the controller down. It being a Wednesday, they were the slow days, so only a few members of staff were needed, and Kyle was on his break.

" _Though they haven't been given a name yet, by either themselves or the public, this group was captured fighting strange creatures when a cruiser received a call of public disturbance."_

The image cut from the news anchor and was replaced with the footage that Kyle had seen so many times, he figured he could remember it move-for-move.

Probably because he was one of the ones fighting, but, whatever.

" _They haven't figured out our…you know, identities yet, have they?"_ Tanya asked. Kyle wasn't sure, but he could have sworn he heard a tint of worry in Tanya's voice. A very rare occasion.

"Not that they're saying; but hey, we haven't got police or anything knocking down our homes or places of work. So, I'm guessing we're still good."

There was a faint pause before Tanya spoke. _"If I find out this actually happens, I'm going to kick your ass."_

A faint chuckle came from Kyle, switching the television off as he said, "I know you'll do that regardless. Anyway, probably best to leave you be; newbies come in Wednesday afternoon, right?"

" _Yep; making sure we don't have to call an ambulance,"_ was the response, the usual bluntness in her voice.

"See ya," Kyle said, before hanging out and slipping the phone back into his pocket.

* * *

"Any more progression?" Fear asked, stepping forward from the cave tunnel, stepping into a large, dimly lit cavern.

There was only one source of light in the entire area, and it was focused on a single podium; upon which, rested a single black gem stone in the center of a dark metal pendant. The design of the metal resembled a cage; thin bars wrapped intricately around the black gemstone. A faint glow emitted from the gem, as if struggling.

"The Master is conscious, but he is weak from his imprisonment," Batibat replied, who had been leaning over the podium, hands gripping a part of the podium corner.

The light focused on the podium allowed for Batibat's features to be revealed in their entirety; a pale face with long black hair, tipped red, flowing smoothly over the back and sides of her head. She wore what resembled a high-collar coat over a dress; the collar covering her pale neck, yet remained open to reveal the detailed design of the 'dress' she wore. Her fingernails, tipped a deep green, lightly tapped the stone podium.

Fear grew closer, hands clasped behind his back; the light reflecting off his bronze armor, the light allowing more of his appearance to be seen. The bronze armor from his forearms continued up his arms, connecting to the spiked shoulder armor he wore.

Small spikes, facing backwards, sported portions of his cheeks, the only visible 'skin' on his entirely armored body. This included the large, black torso armor he wore; battered and dented, from what must have been multiple battles.

"Then we must give the Master a…boost of energy," Fear said, unraveling one of the hands from his back and gestured to the side.

Batibat raised her gaze from the podium, and followed Fear's hand gesture. She side glanced towards Fear again, before slowly, almost reluctantly, moving to the side.

"Don't think you can order my about, Fear…Master made us equal," Batibat said, her back facing Fear as she drew nearer to what the other was gesturing to.

A large wall came into view, made up of large bricks; colored a mixture of dark grey and black, seemingly held together simply by the pressure of the bricks on top and around it.

On the individual bricks, designs were etched; depicting various creatures, all in different stances. Different designs.

All terrifying.

"The Warriors will face Ret-Kli…" Batibat said to herself, her hand hovering over one of the bricks; this one depicting a bulky figure, with a single hole where the head was, depicting an eye.

Her hand pressed against the brick, curling her fingers against the image slightly; pulling her hand back carefully. The image seemingly removing itself from the brick, like a sticker being peeled off from a surface.

With a flick of her wrist, Batibat sent the design flinging through the domain, coming to rest over a small black-and-green portal; not too dissimilar to the one they had observed the Warriors fight through.

Batibat walked from the wall to the portal, as the image slowly lowered down; disappearing in the swirling mist. Her hands moved over the portal, her movements' smooth and slow, passing over each other multiple times. She chanted softly under her breath, her eyes closed gently; as the chants continued, the portal slowly started to grow.

Fear walked over as Batibat, seemingly finishing the ritual, brought her hands together and pushed them aside; the portal moving from the hand movement, angling sideways and moving further away.

The portal grew the further it moved, until it reached a size that would allow a human-sized creature to easily pass through it if it were a solid gap. As it moved further, a shape started to take form, coming from the portal.

Passing over the creature eventually, the portal disappeared altogether, leaving the produced creature standing there.

Said creature was humanoid in nature, but the entire body was clad in scales; thick, dark red mixed with a tint of grey. The grey becoming more prominent towards the limbs and face. The face of the creature was smooth, thin slits visible where the nose should be. Eyes with slit pupils sat on the face, dark gold surrounding a line of black.

Leather straps crossed his torso, holding light, additional armor to his body, covering up…areas.

"What is….my task…" the creature said in a slow, raspy voice; putting extra emphasis on each word.

"Ret-Kli," Batibat said, approaching the scaled creature, Fear following beside her, "there is a task that is required of you. The Five Warriors of the Wolf have been awoken. We, the Warlords of the Master, give you the order of destroying the Warriors."

At the mention of Warriors, Ret-Kli growled deeply, coming from the depths of his chest. One of his hands clenched, clawed fingers screwing into a tight fist. His pupils narrowed into thinner slits, almost disappearing into the gold surrounding them.

"I will crush…the Warriors under my feet…" Ret-Kli snarled, his scaled lips curling up slightly in a display of anger; revealing serrated fangs, lining his jaws.

"When you complete your task, you will harvest their powers and bring them back to us," Fear added, stepping a step forward of Batibat. The she-demon set a glare to the male Demon, but said nothing.

"Understood…Sir…"

"You will be provided with a Pod of Wolkeins to assist you in your endeavor," Batibat added, her hands slowly folding behind her back, pulling them back in front; producing what appeared to be a large, slightly rough stone.

"Yes…" Ret-Kli said, extending one of his clawed hands forward, taking the offered 'stone'; placing it in a small pouch to his side.

"You have your orders…" Batibat snapped her fingers, and a swirling portal of black and green smoke opened up before the three demons.

"Now execute them."

A wordless nod from the scaled demon was the response, as Ret-Kli turned and walked through the portal; fading through, before disappearing altogether.

* * *

"Well, I'd better get going to class; I've got Mr. Hyde," Natalie said, knocking her hand against the table briefly before getting to her feet.

"Ouch," Isaac commented dryly, looking up as Natalie stood. Matthew was flicking through his phone; too busy to look up.

"You?"

"I've got Andrew for Literature," Isaac replied.

"Ooh…good luck with that," Natalie said with a faint smirk, nudging Isaac's shoulder lightly. Isaac rolled his eyes slightly, shaking his head as he stood up as well.

The two teens both looked to the last teen at the table. As if feeling the eyes on him, Matthew turned his head up to look at the others.

"What?"

"You got class?" Isaac asked, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

"Figured I would try and skip class," Matthew said causally, slipping the phone back into his pocket and drumming his fingers against the table slowly.

"You don't need any help with skipping class," Natalie said, tapping one finger against her other wrist, trying to remain subtle with her gesturing.

A growl suddenly emitted from Natalie's covered wrist. The two guys' eyes snapped to the female's wrist, who quickly clasped her hand around it, trying to suppress the growl. It did little to quieten it, but, luckily, the three of them were among the last of students to leave the canteen, but they still needed to be careful.

"What the hell did you press?" Isaac hissed, leaning over to whisper into Natalie's ear.

"I didn't," Natalie snapped back, elbowing Isaac in the ribs to send him back. She grabbed the end of her jacket sleeve, revealing a glimpse of the silver-and-black Howler that lay beneath.

A low, metallic growl emitted continuously from the Howler, though not as loud as the initial growl. There was a faint glow of white from under the sleeve, but was it was mostly covered.

"What does that mean?" Matthew said, gesturing to the source of the growl.

"You think I know?" Natalie said, glaring.

"We can't just stand around, trying to figure it out here," Isaac said eventually, gesturing for Matthew to get up. Though his movements were sluggish, Matthew got to his feet.

Matthew slid his hands into the depths of his trousers, saying, "I think I know a place where we can go to figure it out."

Isaac and Natalie both looked at Matthew, before sharing a glance between the two.

"Where did you have in mind?" Isaac eventually asked.

* * *

"Behind the school? Where the druggies hang out?" Isaac asked, raising his eyebrow as the three of them walked along the side of the school. They moved quickly, trying to avoid getting see through any windows they passed.

"Hey, if you're going go somewhere where it'll take time to be found," Matthew said, leading the three of them. "Go where the crack-smokers go."

They rounded the final corner of the building, and were met with the back of the school. Normally only the home to large dumpsters and storage, had now become a haven for smokers and drug-users to quench their addictions during lessons, without teachers finding them.

But it seemed they weren't alone. A group of three teens, all males, were hanging around, smoke coming out of their little circle in small pillars.

"What the fuck do we do with these guys?" Natalie asked in a hushed, harsh whisper.

"Let me try," Isaac asked, patting Natalie's shoulder before stepping forward, approaching the group of smoking teens.

"Hey guys, we need this area, so…" Isaac said when near the three, hands slipping out of his pockets and folding them over his chest, gesturing behind him with one thumb.

"Fuck off," was the only response he got from any of them.

After a few seconds of no movement, or other response, Matthew let a smirk cross his face; stepping forward, patting Isaac's shoulder; pushing him back slightly.

"I got this," Matthew said, flashing Isaac his smirk before approaching the three smoking teens. Isaac took a step back, rubbing the back of his neck as he did so, level with Natalie again.

"That…could have gone better," Isaac muttered.

"You think?" Natalie said with an eye roll.

They were torn away from each other when the sound of a heavy strike, followed by a heavy mass falling to the floor. Matthew stood between two of the smokers, who had backed off to give Matthew space. The third teen was currently lying on the ground, hands covering his face; though the growing trickles of blood could be seen seeping through the gaps of his fingers.

"Like you said - fuck off," Matthew said, a sarcastic tone to his voice as he rubbed one of his hands, presumably the one he used to throw the punch, against his jacket.

The two still standing teens quickly nodded, scrambling off while they still standing. The third teen, blood trickles starting to escape through his fingers and onto the ground, scrambled unsteadily to his feet, rushing around the other corner.

"Bit more violent than my approach," Isaac commented, as he and Natalie quickly approached Matthew.

"But it worked," was Matthew's response, turning around to look at the other two. A faint smear of blood was down the right side of his jacket's front, but not enough to permanently stain.

"Now," Natalie said. Once the coast was clear, she rolled her sleeve up fully and held her arm out, revealing the Howler in its entirety. The crystal glowing a bright white, briefly pulsing.

"What do we press?" Natalie asked.

"Try those little buttons," Matthew suggested, gesturing to the six buttons, three either side of the main crystal, donning the Howler.

"Best chance we have," Isaac added.

Natalie shrugged too, seeing little choice but to guess, and began pressing each of the buttons, starting with the buttons on the crystal's right side, but to no avail. Upon trying the left side, she pressed the middle button, and finally, something happened.

 _"Natalie, are Isaac and Matthew with you?"_ came MUTT's voice from the Howler.

"Yeah, they're here. Maybe you should have told us how the hell to use these things!" Natalie snapped, a venom edge to her tone.

 _"My apologies. When the matter is dealt with, Savage and I will answer any questions you have about the Howlers,"_ was MUTT's response, the robotic nature of his voice not creating any emotions.

"What's the matter?" Isaac asked.

 _"A Demon has passed into this Realm, you must deal with this quickly,"_ MUTT said, adding, _"Tanya and Kyle have already been contacted and sent to the location."_

"Alright, more Wolkeins. Shouldn't be a problem," Matthew reasoned, rolling one of his sleeves up slowly, before moving to the other.

 _"This is not just another pod of Wolkeins. This is one of Horror's Demons, resurrected from the Demon's War. I am still trying to identify the Demon from Savage's records."_

Isaac, Matthew, and Natalie all looked between themselves silently before Isaac said, "Well, no point trying to put it off. MUTT, send us to the location."

 _"At once,"_ MUTT replied, before the communications were cut off.

Dropping her arm to her side momentarily, Natalie looked to Isaac when he said, "Ready?"

"Ready," Natalie responded, while Matthew's response consisted of a mere nod.

The three stood together, crossing their Howler-donned wrist over their chests.

"United, we Howl!" The three said, in near unison, pressing the central crystal.

Mid-transformation, while being covered in their respective lights, columns of red, blue and white light came down from the sky, engulfing them completely. Mere seconds later, the three of them had vanished; leaving the area barren from human life.

* * *

Kyle shouted out as he was thrown across the concrete, tumbling across the street and eventually coming to a stop against the side of a building.

He groaned lowly after coming to rest, pushing himself to his elbows just in time to see Tanya getting thrown through the large window of the convenient store, sending shattered glass flying everywhere. Clattering came from the now destroyed window, but Kyle couldn't make anything out in detail.

He pushed himself to his feet, the black-and-silver armor suit he wore a bit scuffed from the previous fighting, and turned to face the strange, scaled creature they'd been set to.

And he suddenly was face to face with the creature. Well, toe to toe. His head wasn't the same level as the creatures - it was at least two heads taller than he was.

A clawed fist wrapped around his silver-armored neck, applying steadily growing force around his throat. He gagged loudly, his hands flying around the hand around his neck, trying to pry himself free. Unfortunately, it didn't get him anywhere. It only caused a low hiss to steadily rise in the creature's throat, and more pressure applied to his throat.

Across the other side of the street, three beams of light came shooting down from the sky, catching the attention of Ret-Kli and Kyle.

 _"Finally…"_ Kyle wheezed, but gagged again as more pressure was applied around his throat.

In place of the three beams of light, the other three armored Warriors were, standing in the classic 'superhero landing' pose, their visors facing the ground before, one by one, they raised their heads to face the strange creature.

That was, until Matthew and Isaac were thrown back when Kyle was thrown at them; the three male Warriors tumbling back, a mess of red, blue and black armor.

 _"What took you guys so long?"_ Kyle remarked, a sarcastic edge to his voice as he untangled himself from the other two. Isaac and Matthew both glared at Kyle through their visors, making small mutters under their breaths as they pushed the Black Warrior off of them.

 _"Where's Tanya?"_ Natalie asked, looking aside as the three got to their feet, all standing together as the scaled Demon drew closer.

"You Warriors…may have…defeated…me once…but…I will have…this victory…" Ret-Kli said in his signature slow, raspy voice.

 _"He's talking about those guys Savage mentioned,"_ Kyle commented.

 _"No shit, Sherlock,"_ Isaac muttered, before adding, _"You know where Tanya is; go and get her, we'll hold this guy off."_

Under his visor, Kyle rolled his eyes before sidestepping as the other three took up the space he occupied, spreading themselves out more.

Ret-Kli's slit pupils were focused solely on the new three, before reaching behind him; moving his hand out again, revealing the large stone Batibat gave him earlier. He threw it to the ground, the stone shattered into a million pieces.

From a handful of these pieces, they grew, the rock texture stretching and warping, covering small areas of the growing pieces. Taking humanoid force, the rock texture moved to only cover the face of the creature; black armor forming over the upper chest and shoulders, along with the forearms and shins.

 _"So that's where they come from,"_ Natalie muttered, raising her closed fists in defense.

The odd growl and grunt came from the Wolkeins, some wielding short daggers, others just with their fists as they moved around Ret-Kli constantly. They never stopped for a moment.

"Attack!" Ret-Kli roared, pointing a clawed finger at the Warriors. At the command, the Wolkeins charged, rushing towards the three Warriors.

 _"Let's do this,"_ Isaac said, before leading the three of them running towards the Wolkeins, meeting them in the middle of the street in a class of blades and fists.

Kneeing one Wolkein in the gut, Matthew quickly ducked to dodge one flying dagger, rolling over the bent over Wolkein, delivering an upper cut to the creature, and sending it on its back. He checked over his shoulder, and side stepped to avoid a strike from one of the many circling Wolkeins.

Natalie did a shoulder roll to create some space between herself and the Wolkeins, landing on her feet and turning to face the larger group of Wolkeins. She blocked one attack with her forearm, the blade sliding back until it locked with the grooves. Unfortunately, this distraction caused her to miss a punch to her gut.

She grunted and fell to one knee. She lifted her gaze up, seeing one Wolkein raise its dagger to strike a blow. Natalie quickly rolled back, causing the Wolkeins' dagger in her forearm groove to stumble forward, right into the blade of the other Wolkein.

As green ooze came from this Wolkein, Isaac was facing off another three. He had his weapon drawn, a red-and-silver bladed sword, and was slicing through any Wolkein that dare lower their defenses. Green ooze pulsed out of open wounds, bodies falling to the ground.

He ducked to avoid one dagger, sending a backwards kick at a charging Wolkein. This sent it flying back, stumbling into another Wolkein.

 _"Where's Tanya?"_ Isaac muttered under his breath, grabbing the handle of his sword with both hands, looking around slowly.

* * *

 _"Tanya!"_ Kyle shouted, pushing open the door to the convenient store; preferring not to go through the shattered window left behind by Tanya's body.

He looked around the ruined shop; shelves were toppled over, produce was tossed all over the store, and most of it was scattered across the floor. Crushed cookies, fresh fruit reduced to mere thick stains on the floor.

It looked like a pigsty. For very lucky pigs, that is.

 _"Tanya?"_ He asked, his robotic tinted voice low, looking around slowly.

He heard movement behind him, and Kyle turned around sharply; only to have his shoulders sag slightly at the reveal that it was only the store manager.

 _"You didn't happen to…see a yellow one of me fly through here?"_ Kyle asked, gesturing behind him with his thumbs, to the ruined store that sat behind him.

The owner, a middle aged man with thinning grey hair and a pair of glasses, shook his head rapidly; his entire body shaking slightly. Most likely from the traumatic event of his ruined store.

 _"Honestly, never thought I'd ever ask someone that,"_ Kyle muttered under his breath, shaking his head as he walked a few steps through the store.

The sound of metal clattering against the floor caught his attention; he looked to the ground to his side, seeing a mountain of dented cans and ruined packaging covering someone. And when they shifted, it revealed a bit of a yellow suit.

 _"Tanya!"_ Kyle exclaimed, rushing over and trying to remove as much of the products as possible from the body.

When he got a few cans and cookies removed, he managed to see some of Tanya's head; and when he did, he tried to stifle a chuckle.

Tanya was lying in a pile of food, crumbs and spreads littered across her armor. And to top it all off, peanut butter was splattered across her visor; bits of glass mixed in with the spread, from the shattered jar.

 _"You know, I didn't think you liked peanut butter,"_ Kyle commented, trying to remove some of the spread from the Yellow Warrior's visor.

Tanya raised her own hand, and grabbed a glob of the peanut butter; swiping it from her visor.

 _"I fucking hate peanut butter,"_ Tanya growled, using both her hands to wipe the peanut butter from her visor as best she could.

 _"Come on, the others are dealing with that Demon,"_ Kyle said, grabbing Tanya's forearm, Tanya's hand gripping his, and he pulled Tanya to her feet. A sudden, pained shot of pain caught their attention; and in a tone that they recognized.

 _"Isaac,"_ Kyle said, rushing out through the door; Tanya rushing after him, the two a streak of black and yellow as they rushed out of the store.

When they came into sight of what caused the shout, they both froze. Matthew and Natalie had been thrown across either side of the street, not a sign of any Wolkeins remaining.

But Isaac was pinned down, by a large clawed foot, underneath the scaled Demon; pressing down on the Warrior's torso, straining the rib bones. Despite his efforts, Isaac couldn't remove the clawed foot from his torso, but that was the least of his worries.

A low hiss came from above him, and Isaac raised his head slowly, only to be met with a wave of unbearable heat and searing pain. He started shouting and yelling in pain as the fire from the Demon's fang-filled mouth engulfed him. Only his lower body was visible outside the fire.

 _"ISAAC!"_

The four other teens all rushed towards the scaled Demon and their fellow Warrior, closing in on the Demon.

Reaching the Demon first, Kyle and Tanya both kicked the Demon in the back. The fire suddenly stopped and Ret-Kli stumbled over Isaac, the fire still sticking to his armor, black soot covering most of his helmet and upper torso.

Hissing in anger, Ret-Kli turned to face the now four standing Rangers, standing before their fallen comrade, fists raised, fingers clenched together.

He attempted to stepped forward, but before he could get much closer, a black-and-green portal opened up, absorbing Ret-Kli into it, the Demon's roar of anger fading into nothing.

Once they were sure the Demon was gone, though it was strange, they all turned their attention to Isaac. Natalie and Kyle lowered to their knees, trying to pick Isaac's upper body up slowly into a sitting position.

 _"Is he breathing?"_ Tanya asked frantically, moving around to check Isaac from the front.

 _"We need to get him checked out,"_ Natalie said, trying to keep Isaac's helmet and head level, the charred soot passing from his helmet to him.

 _"We're bringing you five back,"_ Savage's voice suddenly came over the intercoms. The five of them were enclosed in light, and in an instant, they vanished.

* * *

The light surrounding the five of them hadn't fully dispersed when they started moving forward. MUTT and Savage approached the group.

"Give him to me," Savage ordered, his tone gruff as he grabbed Isaac from Kyle and Natalie, supporting the Red Warrior's body by throwing his arm over his shoulders, and helping him to the unfolding table in the middle of the room.

"MUTT, initiate the scan," Savage said firmly, carefully lying Isaac's charred, armored form on the table, an odd groan of pain escaping the unconscious human.

" _Yes sir,"_ MUTT responded, corralling the others Warriors away as he moved back to a console at the table. He tapped a few keys and a circular scanner lowered from the ceiling, encircling the table Isaac was resting on.

"What's happening?" Kyle asked, having taken his helmet off his head the second Isaac's body had been removed from his hands, and currently carrying it under his arm.

" _Initiating scan to assess damage,"_ MUTT answered, tapping another key moments later.

A light blue light lowered from the scanner, starting at Isaac's still-armored head and slowly moving over his body. The light passing over his slowly rising and falling chest, his fingers twitching slightly as pain racked through his body at random points.

" _Third degree burns to 37% of the body,"_ MUTT said once the scan was completed, tapping a few more keys. He moved over to the other side of the room, walking past the other Warriors and tapped a small screen on the wall.

A faint hiss escaped as a panel opened up, extending out into the room. Cold steam escaped the panel, and a faint blue glow escaped the small lights.

From the cryogenic fridge, MUTT grabbed a small vile from the middle shelf and pushed the panel closed again, walking off as it sealed shut again.

" _Kyle, syringe,"_ MUTT said, gesturing with the free hand to the Black Warrior, then gesturing to the opposite side of the room.

"Yeah... Syringe," Kyle muttered under his breath, quickly setting his helmet down on the side and rushed over to the area MUTT gestured to. Reaching the area, he began filtering through the many shelves behind the counter, desperately looking for the surgical equipment.

Tossing some appliances aside, Kyle ended up crouching down and throwing out several shelves before finally finding the syringe.

He got up and quickly rushed over to the robot and wolf-man as the other humans quickly drew nearer when they had the chance.

"Syringe," Kyle said, breathing a little heavier from rushing around, and handed the syringe to MUTT.

The robot took the syringe, and after removing the shaft-cover, pulled the handle back, drawing air into the syringe. Stabbing into the vial and injecting the air, he flipped the two of them over and drew the liquid from the vial slowly.

MUTT turned to face Isaac, as Savage slowly unclasped the helmet and removed it from Isaac's face. Revealing the true damage done to the skin beneath.

A leathery, brown color extended over half of Isaac's face; moving over his chin and his neck, moving further down his non-visible body. The brown, inflamed skin appeared severely irritated, fusing with the 'normal' looking skin. Isaac's right eye was forced shut, covered with the leathery burns covering that side of his face.

"Jesus Christ…" Tanya muttered, covering her mouth and quickly turning away, not wanting to see the result of Ret-Kli's flames.

The others all averted their gaze, trying to keep their lunch down. It being the first time they had seen such injuries up close, and not images from the Internet.

"Inject it MUTT," Savage ordered, quickly setting the soot-laden helmet aside and returning to stand over Isaac's head. He carefully placed his large, furry hands on either side of Isaac's head, turning to the left side slowly; letting the burnt side facing up.

MUTT moved to Isaac's other side, tapping the needle a few times to remove any air bubbles within the liquid.

"Fucking hate needles," Matthew said, turning around and settled on just pacing back and forth as the impromptu procedure went on.

Placing one of his 'hands' on the Isaac's shoulder, MUTT carefully slide the needle into an area of Isaac's skin, among the burnt area, and injected the medication into the bloodstream.

At the medication entering his system, Isaac's body suddenly seized up, inhaling harshly. Savage's grip on his body tightened as Isaac tried shifting, and MUTT increased his hold on Isaac's shoulder.

" _He's going into shock,"_ MUTT said, quickly removing the needle and placing it to one side, as Savage turned Isaac's head back slowly so it was facing upward again.

"I just need time," Savage growled lowly, rolling the sleeves up on his trench coat and cracked his knuckles briefly before placing his first and middle finger on both hands on either of Isaac's temples. At this point, Savage inhaled and exhaled deeply, closing his eyes slowly.

"What's he doing?" Natalie asked quietly, the entire room suddenly growing much quieter when Savage's eyes closed.

MUTT simply raised a hand up, not responding for the moment.

Savage inhaled deeply, and released the breath slowly a few seconds later, trying to remove the tension in his muscles, relaxing his face and letting his whole body loosen up.

That was when the teens noticed something.

Across Savage's left arm, faint red glow started to become apparent, glowing underneath the fur, but becoming brighter and more well-defined as each second passed.

Curves and markings were among the red designs, glowing up his arm, to the point that his sleeve was rolled to, and then they noticed it continued up the left side of his neck.

Some parts resembled stripes, mostly along his arm, while others looked similar to old body paints the further it went up his neck. Despite the slight differences in the designs, they were all glowing the same red color.

As the glowing continued, Isaac's movement and twitching slowly started to die down, and his breathing began to level out.

Now that the breathing and movement had been calmed, Savage slowly moved his middle finger up from the temple and placing them at another point just above the temple, and carefully pressed into the skin.

Isaac inhaled sharply again, but it was the only time it happened. His body remained relatively stationary and his breathing was, otherwise, steady.

Then, a faint glow of white started to appear at the points where Savage's fingers were pressed against Isaac's head.

The remaining teens watched in amazement, as the severe burns across Isaac's face started to deflate, and the color of the burns started to return to the normal skin color and texture. His undamaged eye twitched slightly, as the other eye started to resemble it among the swelling and burns.

Minutes passed, and somehow, Isaac's damaged skin seemed to be repaired, not a trace, on the surface anyway, that the burn marks had ever been on his face. His eyes were now fully visible, no swelling remaining.

Savage slowly removed his fingers from Isaac's temples once the skin had been returned to normal; the moment his fingers were removed, the red markings across his left arm and neck, started to fade rapidly. Within seconds, they had vanished entirely, disappearing beneath the rugged fur.

"It will take him a few minutes to recover," Savage said offhandedly, rolling his sleeves down again slowly, adjusting the sleeves to remove any creases. "You four, with me," he added, gesturing for the other humans to follow him.

The four looked at each other before following after Savage, leading them to the other side of the room. MUTT remaining to keep a close eye on Isaac, monitoring his condition.

Reaching one of the screens, Savage tapped a few commands into one of the keyboards, and began, "The Demon you encountered goes by the name 'Ret-Kli'."

"How the hell can you tell?" Matthew asked, crossing his armored arms over his chest.

"Every flame is unique in feel. A Demon's fire is no difference. His fire especially," Savage said, before finally turning around and flicking his hand against the screen.

The image on the screen jumped to the hologram on the center of the command room, showing a scale image of Ret-Kli, standing motionless.

"You still didn't explain how you could tell," Tanya commented.

A faint growl escaping him, Savage quickly suppressed it and, as calmly as he could, said, "When I was healing Isaac, I also felt the pain inflicted on him from Ret-Kli."

"If a mere human had been in Isaac's position at the time, they would have been reduced to a pile of ash. But because of the armor he wore, it protected him from death, but because of the heat, it managed to pass through the armor and still burnt him."

"You seem to know a lot about how this guy works," Matthew commented, raising an eyebrow slightly as he spoke.

A scowl crossed Savage's face, his gaze focused on Matthew. "My clan fought Demons throughout our lives, Ret-Kli included. Ret-Kli was among of the first Demons the Ancient Warriors faced when they were given the honor of their titles."

"You could learn something from the Ancient Warrior's time fighting Ret-Kli," Savage added, flicking the hologram back onto the screen and removing it again.

"What?" Natalie asked, joining Matthew in glaring back at Savage defiantly.

"You need to ignore the human instinct you have been programmed to follow. You humans; you scatter from danger, standing alone, leaving others to fend for themselves," Savage replied, before continuing.

"If my people did that, our Clan would have been wiped out, _long_ before I was conceived. We unite against danger, fighting as one. That's how the Ancient Warriors trained; that is how my people train. And that is how you are going to need to train."

"We can't exactly 'train'," Kyle said, making air quotations when he said 'train', before folding his arms over his chest as he continued, "We're not like you, Savage. We have…school, jobs. And we can't exactly say, 'Oh, where were we? Just training to save the world from Demons, being taught everything by a giant wolf-man wearing a trench coat. Oh yeah, and we turn into super-powered, armored, multi-colored beings. What's for dinner?'"

"First off…" Savage started, but he was interrupted by the sound of a loud gasp.

They all turned to look back, seeing MUTT leaning over the table, trying to keep Isaac's upper body down.

" _You must try to relax, Isaac,"_ MUTT tried to order, placing either hand on Isaac's shoulder, and pressing down.

"What happened? Where are the others?" Isaac's voice asked frantically, trying to unclasp MUTT's hands from his charred shoulder.

Natalie and Matthew quickly rushed over, followed by Kyle, Tanya and Savage at a slightly slower pace.

"It's alright, Isaac," Natalie quickly said, gently pushing MUTT aside and placing a hand on Isaac's shoulder, turning his head with her free hand to face her.

"You're good, man," Matthew said, approaching on Isaac's other side and clasping a hand over Isaac's other shoulder.

"What happened?" Isaac asked frantically, reaching his hand up and grasping a handful of the fabric armor on Matthew's arm; tugging it, trying to pull himself up, while at the same time, dragging Matthew closer. "What happened? I…I-I remember…being pinned…t-t-then I-I-I…I blacked out…"

"What happened?" He asked again, his voice dropped down a pitch, yet he was starting to shake slightly.

"You suffered third-degree burns to 37% of your body," Savage said bluntly, looming over the rest of the team to look at Isaac.

"But you're fine now!" Kyle added quickly, as Tanya glared at Savage, mouthing 'what the hell?' at the wolf-man.

Isaac let the information sink in, slowly unclasping his hand from the grip on Matthew's arm, the hand visibly shaking slightly as he pulled it back to his face. He gently touched his face, running down his right cheek slowly, feeling the now normal skin.

"How?" Isaac asked softly, looking between the four humans, MUTT and Savage.

"Savage did some weird... voodoo spirit-thing to heal your burns. I'm still trying to figure it out myself," Natalie said, side glancing at the humanoid wolf.

Still a little shaky, and his breathing not yet leveling out, Isaac gently pushed Matthew a few steps back, carefully swinging his legs around the table, sitting himself up.

"W... What happened to that... that Demon?" Isaac asked softly, looking up slightly, before resting his head in his hands, rubbing his eyes slowly.

"Honestly, we don't have a clue. It just... vanished. Poof. Gone," Matthew said, gesturing with his hands the 'poofing' movement.

A confused look came over Isaac's face. "Why the hell would it do that?"

* * *

"How….dare you!" Ret-Kli snarled, smoke billowing from the corners of his mouth, his eyes narrowed to nearly vanishing in the angry gold pools.

Batibat and Fear stood next to each other, both facing the scaled Demon. Batibat had her arms folded over her chest, while Fear was settled on crossing his hands behind his back.

"I prefer to draw out the torment, something a simple minded creature like yourself may struggle to grasp," Batibat said, her fingers drumming over her arm, irritation emitting from her every fiber.

"I will return you to the Realm when the Warriors have made themselves known again. Now that you've removed the leader of the Warriors, they'll be much easier to take down."

Snorting lowly, causing pillars of smoke to escape his nostril slits, Ret-Kli glared hard at the two Warlords, baring his serrated teeth.

"I will deal with them myself," Ret-Kli snarled slowly, before turning around and walking off, approaching the still-open portal and walked through it without a second glance behind him.

"You really think that Ret-Kli's flames were able pierce that Red Warrior's armor?" Fear asked, once Ret-Kli had vanished through the portal. Surprisingly, neither of them had stopped the scaled Demon from leaving.

A faint smirk crossing her thin lips, Batibat replied, "There were not many beings would were able to recover from Ret-Kli's flames. And those that could, have died a long, long time ago…"

* * *

" _Ret-Kli has returned,"_ MUTT suddenly said, facing a monitor and tapping a few keys.

"Where?" Savage asked, approaching the robot, looking at the monitor for any answers. The others followed quietly, apart from Isaac, who followed a far bit slower.

" _South of the City,"_ MUTT answered, enlarging one of the images on the monitor, so that it fully covered the screen. True to his word, Ret-Kli was on screen, fire engulfed all around him. In the distance of what the screen showed, civilians were trying to get away from the Demon.

"You need to get out there and finish him off," Savage instructed, gesturing to four of the five Rangers. "Except you, Isaac."

"What? Look, I'm fine now. I... I'm good," Isaac said defensively, pushing aside Matthew to face Savage directly.

"You are not to be in combat against Ret-Kli; he believes you dead, and for now, we must make him think he's right. Besides, I have something I need you to do for me," Savage said, an edge to his tone when he spoke.

Isaac stared back at Savage - the two sharing an intense stare-off - but eventually Isaac backed off, turning his gaze aside.

"That's what I thought," Savage grunted, before turning to face the others. "Get going."

The teens glanced at the wolf-man, and each other, before Natalie said, "You just gave us a lecture about how we need to stay together to ensure victory, and now you're telling us that we need to split? I don't know about you, but I'm smelling bullshit."

Savage looked at Natalie, glaring intensely as he growled, "True, I did say that, but this is the only exception. I require him. If I am finished and you are still fighting, I will send him to you at once."

Natalie didn't seem too convinced, but Tanya responded, "Fine, but we'll be holding you to your word."

Isaac sighed, rubbing his hands through his hair slowly, before pulling his hands back and said, "I guess I'll be joining you guys later then."

"Don't worry about it, Isaac," Kyle said, walking over and grabbed his helmet, carrying it under his arm as he added, "I'm sure we'll get that Demon down before you turn up anyway."

"Screw you," Isaac muttered, electing a chuckle from Kyle as he put his helmet on again.

The others followed suite, and after Savage and Isaac had stepped back, MUTT tapped in a command and, with a flash of light, the four had vanished.

"So, go on. What's _so_ important that you won't let me join the others?" Isaac asked, an angry tone to his voice as he turned to face Savage.

Savage turned to face Isaac, looking down slightly, because of the height difference. "If you'd like to come with me," Savage said, gesturing to follow him, as he turned to walk down one of the corridors connecting another room to the main command center.

Isaac looked at MUTT, who looked back blankly, gesturing for Isaac to walk after Savage. The red warrior rolled his shoulders slightly, following after the wolf-man into the dimly lit corridor.

* * *

"Warriors…" Ret-Kli hissed, turning around slowly, the flash of light caught the corner of his eye, a light he had seen before.

And just as he expected, the four remaining Warriors stood before him in a line; the Yellow first, then Blue, followed by Black and White.

"I see you are one down…" the scaled Demon hissed, smoke pouring out of the corner of his mouth, hands curling into tight fists; flashing his claws as he did so.

" _Shut the hell up,"_ Tanya snapped, curling her gloved hand into a fist. _"Matthew, with you. Natalie, Kyle; make sure the civilians are out of the way."_

The Black and White Warriors nodded, before quickly moving off; Matthew and Tanya spreading themselves across the space the others occupied.

"You think just two can beat me? A Beta and a Gamma…" Ret-Kli hissed lowly.

" _I told you,"_ Tanya said, a venom-edge to her voice, _"Shut. The hell. Up."_

With that final insult, Tanya rushed forward, running at the Demon as fast as she could, becoming a yellow blur and colliding with the Demon in mere milliseconds.

Ret-Kli staggered back, growling lowly under his breath as he cupped the part of his torso that received the punch as he stared at Tanya. The Yellow Warrior didn't let up, rushing up to Ret-Kli again, aiming a jump-kick at the Demon.

However, Ret-Kli grabbed the incoming foot as it was thrown, stopping Tanya mid-kick. He gripped her ankle tighter and flung her around. Sending her flying into one of the buildings opposite them.

As Tanya collided with the concrete, sending cracks throughout, Matthew quickly took her place, sending punches and kicks flying at the Demon; trying to avoid the claws.

Ret-Kli hissed loudly, grabbing one of the flying wrists in one hand; Matthew looked to his restricted wrist, trying to break it free. When that failed, he brought his other fist into a large swing. But this too was grabbed in an iron hold.

Grunting, Matthew faced the Demon, both of his hands now restricted. Seeing no other option, he stared down the Demon.

For a second, anyway.

Ret-Kli snarled in pain when the helmet collided with Ret-Kli's jaw, his head recoiling from the impact.

" _That's for Isaac,"_ Matthew spat, but his actions didn't seem to do him any good.

Judging from the look that dominated Ret-Kli's eye, Matthew felt a little uneasy.

Before anything could happen, however, Ret-Kli was sent stumbling forward, releasing Matthew from his hold, as he stumbled aside.

Rubbing his arms, which he was sure were bleeding form the claws digging into the suit, Matthew looked up to see Tanya standing defensively where Ret-Kli had been standing. Behind her, Natalie and Kyle were quickly running towards them. Civilians had been cleared of the area, so they had returned to the action.

The four Warriors, now united again, started circling around the Demon, cornering him on all sides. Ret-Kli's gaze when from Warrior to Warrior, never staying on one in particular for too long before it switched to the next.

" _Now!"_ Tanya and Matthew shouted at the same time, the Blue and Yellow Warrior rushing forward - the Black and White Warriors - opposite their position, running towards Ret-Kli.

The Demon snarled, dodging and ducking the multiple attacks and, despite his large bulk, he managed to avoid most of the strikes. The few that landed on him, namely across his legs and torso, were absorbed by the tough scales.

" _This guy-"_ Natalie grunted, ducking when Ret-Kli tried to swing a claw at her, before returning a punch to the scaled torso. _"-has to have some weak spot."_

" _This isn't a movie,"_ Tanya grunted, stepping back slightly when a strike connected with her helmet, disorientating her momentarily. Shaking her head quickly, she brought her fists up defensively and moved in again, throwing punches at Ret-Kli.

Suddenly, Ret-Kli struck out rapidly; striking each of the Warriors in turn, sending them all flying back. Kyle collided with a building wall, sending cracks through the concrete as he fell to the ground again.

Matthew and Natalie were sent rolling across the ground, eventually coming to a stop either side of the street.

Tanya, too, was sent rolling across the ground, but she eventually righted herself on her feet. The momentum continued carrying her back, until she came to a stop. Panting slightly, she quickly tried to get to her feet, holding her hands up defensively.

"Do you wish to die, Warrior?" Ret-Kli growled lowly, slowly drawing closer to the standing Yellow Warrior, more smoke starting to pour out more frequently than before.

He opened his mouth slowly, and Tanya saw the makings of a fireball forming in Ret-Kli's mouth. Yet she remained where she was, still in her defensive stance.

" _Tanya!"_ shouted Kyle, quickly getting to his feet and rushing towards the Demon and Yellow Warrior. Matthew quickly got to his feet, while Natalie was finding it hard to get up quickly.

Then, a flash of light appeared in the middle of the area, causing Ret-Kli to growl in confusion, and a small smirk to form under Tanya's helmet.

" _Miss me, fucker?"_ Isaac asked, standing in front Ret-Kli before turning the sword in his hand and striking forward, but slightly upward; aiming the strike right through the middle of Ret-Kli's fireball.

Screeches of pain escaped Ret-Kli as the sword pierced through the soft inner flesh, normally protected by the scales across the rest of his body. It also pierced through the spell cast around the fireball to keep it in shape.

The fire escaped, returning to the uncontrollable force of nature that fire was, backfiring down Ret-Kli's throat and into the belly of the beast. Black smoke billowed out of the corners of his mouth, as he staggered back slightly.

" _Nice,"_ Tanya commented, walking up to where Isaac stood; folding her arms over her chest upon reaching that point. They were soon joined by the other three Warriors, all looking at the scaled Ret-Kli, who had been reduced to his knees, the fire consuming his internals and burning them to a cinder.

" _Savage finished with you just in time,"_ Kyle commented, nudging Isaac in the ribs gently.

" _Yep, and I think you guys will like what it is,"_ Isaac said, smirking under the helmet slightly.

* * *

"That was an embarrassment," Fear commented aloud, stroking his chin slightly as he watched the remains of Ret-Kli burn in front of the Rangers.

"Only if you didn't intend for it to happen," Batibat commented, flicking a strand of her hair behind her ear, as she turned and walked off from the portal.

Fear looked aside as Batibat walked away, asking, "You intended for this to happen?"

"Ret-Kli was always going to lose in a fight - he's over confident in his abilities. But he did help provide some useful insight into these new Warriors," Batibat replied, approaching one side of the cavern, cracking her fingers and knuckles slowly.

"Now, he's going to provide a little more," She added, rubbing her hands together; black-and-green smoke sticking to her fingers.

Exhaling slowly, Batibat closed her eyes, her hands moving smoothly and slowly, passing over one of the other, summoning the smoke that attached to her fingers, drawing it to the point where both hands passed around.

Fear watched as the smoke started to form into a small, black-and-green ball - resembling a small gas ball - seeing her lips move silently, muttering a spell under her breath.

Slowly exhaling, Batibat breathed on the small gas ball, disturbing the green smoke trails from passing across the ball.

Batibat raised her gaze, looking to Fear, flicking her gaze across, gesturing for the other Demon Warlord to move. Fear moved slightly, leaving a straight, clear line between the viewing portal and where Batibat stood. With a flick of her wrist, the ball went floating through the air, vanishing through the portal.

* * *

" _Uh, guys?"_ Natalie said, gesturing to the sky. The others turned their gazes up to the sky, and saw what Natalie had pointed out.

Though it was brief, there was a flash of black streaking across the sky, resembling a comet streaking through the air.

Except this 'comet' turned in a way that was completely unnatural for a comet, and was headed straight towards where the Warriors were standing.

They all flinched to move back, but it turned out that the 'comet' struck the ground a distance away from where they stood; it landed where the burnt remains of Ret-Kli rested.

The burnt scales were engulfed in black-and-green smoke, swirling around what remained of the body. Gathering speed, and quickly growing in mass.

" _That can't be good,"_ Matthew said, taking a small step back slowly, as the smoke grew higher and higher; surpassing the height of some of the tallest skyscrapers surrounding the area.

A great roar came from the smoke, shaking the glass of the surrounding buildings, shattering it in some cases, as the smoke finally dispersed. Revealing the creature inside.

Ret-Kli stood in place as the smoke disappeared, the difference being that he had now grown to a colossal size, surpassing the height of the buildings. His teeth alone looked about the size of buses.

" _Oh…"_ Natalie started.

" _Shit,"_ Matthew added.

" _Uh... what was that thing Savage wanted you for again?"_ Kyle asked, turning to look at Isaac directly.

Isaac quickly pressed one of the smaller buttons on his Howler, saying, _"Savage, we need 'em. Fugly here got big."_

" _On the way,"_ Savage said over the communications.

The second the intercoms went quiet, five distinctive howls rang out through the city, catching the teens' attention in an instant.

" _You are fucking kidding me…"_ Matthew softly said in disbelief.

" _Is that what I think it is?"_ Tanya asked.

In the distance, five large masses rushed through the forests surrounding Pax Valley, quickly making their way into the city. Kicking up large chunks of road as they ran, and catching their black tails on the corners of buildings as they made turns.

Finally, they came into sight of the Warriors.

Five large, metal Wolves came to a stop, large, metallic claws digging into the roads, looking so narrow due to the size of the Metal Wolves. One stood in the middle, the largest one, with two on either side of the central one; three were relatively the same size, while the fourth was significantly smaller than the others.

The central Wolf, with silver and black streaks across its red body, released metallic snarls, snapping its large fangs at the giant Demon.

The two to its right, with yellow and blue as their base color, with silver and black streaks crossing their backs and sides, snapped their jaws, their long, black, blade-like tails flicking behind them.

The two to its left, with the smaller white based Metal Wolf, and the medium-sized black based Metal Wolf, snarled; metallic teeth flashing, and catching the sun to reflect.

" _Are those... Zords?"_ Matthew asked, looking to Isaac.

" _Savage said he needed an Alpha power source to activate the Red Alpha Wolf; he could activate the others easier, but the Alpha needed a direct power source,"_ Isaac replied, before rubbing his hands together.

" _Shall we?"_ he asked, gesturing to the Zords.

" _Ladies first!"_ Tanya quickly said, tapping the central crystal on her Howler; vanishing in a flash of yellow light. Natalie followed quickly, disappearing in a flash of white.

The males quickly followed suite, flashing in burst of their respective colors, and they found themselves standing in a black room, void of color, save for their uniforms.

" _What is this place?"_ Natalie said, looking around the black area. She then looked in front of her, and found that she was facing Ret-Kli; the view was blurred at the edges, but she could clearly see the scaled Demon among the buildings.

" _The Zords are mentally linked to their respective Warriors; imagine what you want them to do, and they'll do it. Just so long as it's physically possible,"_ MUTT's voice said into their intercoms.

" _That's not so useful,"_ Matthew muttered, shaking his head as he tried it out, moving his head around slightly, seeing that the Wolf's head followed his owns movement. " _I could get used to this,"_ He said, flexing his fingers as tried to focus.

"So the Warriors have new weapons..." Ret-Kli said slowly, his mouth curling into a sadistic smirk. He slowly drew closer, stepping onto cars with every slow step forward he took.

" _Let's see what these things can do,"_ Isaac said, cracking his knuckles slowly as he closed his eyes, focusing on how to act.

The Red Wolf jumped forward, causing Isaac to falter slightly at the sudden leap, and again when the Wolf collided with Ret-Kli, latching the metal fangs onto the scales.

A loud, angered shout came from the scaled creature, and he tried to remove the mass of sharp metal latched onto its arm, the teeth eventually sliding off of the scales, sending the wolf flying through the air.

" _Wow!"_ Isaac exclaimed, stumbling through the black void, trying to right himself as the Wolf landed.

Its massive claws dug into the concrete, creating large grooves in the road from where the momentum carried it; cars getting flipped and shredded, and buildings cracked when contact was made.

" _That could have gone better,"_ Isaac said, shaking his head to clear any dizziness from the fall.

The others quickly rushed forward; Natalie guiding her small, nimble White Wolf Zord onto the building's roof, sending small crumbs off of the roofs, hoping to get a height advantage over Ret-Kli while he was distracted by the others.

Matthew and Tanya maneuvered their Blue and Yellow Zords around on the ground, buildings getting knocked into from the wide shoulders of the Zords.

Using one of the lower buildings as leverage, Kyle willed his Black Zord to jump off, leaping at the giant, scaled Demon, but Ret-Kli saw this coming. Swiping across, the clawed fingers collided with the side of Kyle's Zords, sending it flying aside, rolling across a small clearing before coming to a stop, when it collided with the side of a skyscraper.

" _Ow…"_ Kyle said, righting both himself and the Black Zord to its feet, shaking itself of any damage done to it.

" _I don't think this is working,"_ Natalie said, her Zord perched up on the skyscraper, seeing the battle take place in front of her.

" _Agreed,"_ Isaac said, working his way around the battle, to regroup with the others. Matthew's Zord quickly joined, the Zord flashing its metal fangs at the Demon.

Kyle and Natalie soon joined the group, Natalie's Zord using the building she had propped it up on as a way to slowly decent; claws grinding through the building, only releasing when she had reached the ground.

" _Come on guys, we can put them together,"_ Isaac said, his Zord moving in front of the others, taking the lead. " _Press into the crystals and turn to the right,"_ Heinstructed, holding the Howler-wrist up and pressing into the crystal and turning to the right quickly.

In their own Zords, all of the other Warriors did the same, turning the crystal to the right. In turn, all of the Zord's eyes, previously their respective Warrior's color, started to glow a bright white, Isaac's Zord jumping up, followed by the others in rapid succession.

 **-Megazord Sequence-**

The Red Wolf Zord jumped into the air, its back legs straightening out, while the front legs folded back into the shoulders. Its eyes flashed red briefly, before it straightened up, looking forward.

The Yellow and Black Wolf Zords both jumped up next, one on their side of the Red Wolf Zord, their heads folding back; ears folding against their skulls. Their back legs folded in on themselves, while the front legs rested against the sides of the head.

The back legs of the Red Wolf Zord connected with the base of the Black and Yellow Zords, creating a body complete with legs.

The Blue Wolf Zord jumped up next, splitting across the middle, leaving the front end and the back end, with segments coming out from either half, at the point where they disconnected.

One half moving to either side, the main segments connected to the sides of the Red Wolf Zord's shoulders, creating arms for the creation.

Finally, the smaller White Wolf Zord came into view, splitting into three segments: the head, and both sets of legs. The legs folded in, creating fists for the creation. These connected with the ends of the arms, the fingers flexing, testing the connection between the arms and the hands.

Leaving the remaining head, which moved above the top of the Zord combination, a panel slowly slid down, revealing a black-and-silver face, the mouth and nose molds covered with a black mask. When it connected to the top of the Red Wolf Zord, the eyes of the face flashed into life, settling into a dark yellow color.

With the Red Wolf Zord's head as the chest cover, the completed creation landed on the ground, fully formed.

 **-Megazord Sequence-**

Standing before Ret-Kli, the combination of the five Wolf Zords stood strong, its white, silver and black fists clenched into tight fists, as its yellow eyes were focused on the Demon before it.

Inside the head of the Megazord, stood the five teens; Isaac at the center, with Matthew to his left and Tanya to his right. Kyle and Natalie stood behind them, in the gaps between the front three.

" _Oh, this is fucking cool!"_ Matthew said, looking around to see the other four standing in the black void.

" _This is pretty sweet,"_ Kyle agreed, rolling his shoulders slightly, one before the other.

" _Let's finish this guy off once and for all,"_ Isaac said, glaring intently at the Demon, through both his visor and the visor of the Wolf Megazord.

"I will finish you off personally, Red Warrior…" Ret-Kli snarled, before he rushed forward, creating small quakes throughout the city with every step he took, approaching the Megazord.

" _Let's meet him full on,"_ Tanya said, and together, the five of them willed the Megazord forward; walking, creating more quakes to go with Ret-Kli's.

The two behemoths clashed in the middle of the city, their punches slow due to their size, meaning that they struggled to avoid incoming punches.

Spares flew when Ret-Kli's fists collided with the Megazord's front, sending the Warriors inside stumbling as their Megazord was sent a few paces back.

" _You know, guys, instead of just punching him - which we proved already doesn't work,"_ Kyle began, looking aside at the others. _"Why don't we just did what we know works? Get a sword, and spear that son of a bitch!"_

" _Good idea, Kyle,"_ Isaac said, his tone muffled slightly, embarrassment evident in his voice. Why the hell hadn't he thought of that before?

" _Savage? We get a sword with thing?"_ Tanya asked, hoping the intercoms still worked in the complete Megazord.

" _You do, summon the Wolf Tail Blade,"_ Savage said.

"' _Wolf Tail Blade'? Think he's got that name trademarked?"_ Kyle asked, raising his eyebrow under the helmet, smirking.

" _And, we're back to normal,"_ Matthew remarked, to which Kyle just shrugged.

From the back of the Megazord, the five wolf tails that had been slotted into place when the Megazord had been completed, shot out from the slots, firing into the air.

Four of the tails formed the curved blade of the sword, the bottom one acting as the handle for the sword. Meanwhile, the fifth one acted as a hand guard; the blade lowered slowly, until the Megazord grabbed onto the handle.

In the helmet of the Megazord, five, miniature versions of the Wolf Tail Blade lowered in front of the Warriors, all looking at each other, before, one by one, they grabbed onto the sword and tested them out.

" _Let's finish this guy,"_ Isaac said, grabbing the sword with both hands. The others followed suite, and on the exterior, the Megazord did the same, the blade facing upward, both hands firmly grasping the handle of the sword.

Ret-Kli charged forward, seeing the Megazord go still, making this as an opportunity to strike the Warriors.

" _Wait,"_ Isaac said slowly, making sure no-one acted out of reflex. The others all looked at Isaac slowly, unsure of his choice, but trusting him for now.

Ret-Kli moved closer, running one of his fists straight through the middle floors of a building, sparking explosions and concrete to rain down on those below.

" _Not yet..."_

" _Isaac, he's nearly on top of us!"_ Tanya exclaimed.

" _Trust me!"_ Isaac exclaimed.

Ret-Kli just passed the second to last intersection to where the Megazord stood. At his size, that was about four steps away from reaching the Warriors.

" _Isaac..."_

Three steps...

" _Isaac!"_

Two steps...

" _ISAAC!"_

" _Now!"_

Together, the Warriors turned the blade to face forward, just at the point where Ret-Kli was about to bear down on them. With a grunt, they thrusted the sword forward, driving the blade of the sword through the teeth-filled mouth.

Ret-Kli gargled, gagging as the blade pierced the internals, slicing through the organs and soft flesh until the blade pressed against the underside of the scales on the back of his neck.

" _And DOWN!"_

Releasing one hand from the handle, and placing them on the back of the blade portion that wasn't slicing through the body, the Warriors, with as much force as they could muster, pressed their blades downward.

In the full scale fight, the blade, thanks to finding a weak spot in the scales, managed to crack through the scales. Little by little, the blade sliced through the front of the Demon, black and green smoke escaping the wound, like cutting into a plastic bottle full of water.

By the time the blade was cutting through the lower torso, the smoke was billowing out at a rapid pace, and that was when they felt the resistance just... vanish. Ret-Kli was reduced to nothing more than smoke, wisps of smoke escaping from the movement of the blade, now that the resistance suddenly vanished.

" _What the.. where the hell did he go?"_ Matthew asked, looking around, turning the Megazord's head around slowly, seeing if this was some kind of trick.

" _So.. are we counting that as a win?"_ Kyle asked, after concluding that Ret-Kli had vanished.

" _I'm counting it,"_ Natalie said, resting the back of the sword's blade against her shoulder.

" _Just... where the hell did he go?"_

* * *

"Didn't I tell you that he was overconfident?" Batibat asked, arms crossed over her chest, as she walked away from the viewing portal once again, looking around slowly.

"I assume you've learnt what you wanted to learn?" Fear asked, promptly ignoring the remark from the she-Demon, turning away to look at her.

"Oh, I have. All I wanted," Batibat confirmed, before she looked up at one particular spot, and stood still. This caused Fear to turn his gaze up as well, seeing what Batibat had her eyes locked on.

A small black orb came floating down through the air, and continued to descend. Batibat unfolded one of her arms, and held out one of her hands, palm facing upward.

Gently taking the orb into her hand, she ran her other hand's fingers over the orb, looking it over slowly.

"Ret-Kli...?" Fear asked, gesturing to the small black orb.

"What's left of him, anyway," Batibat muttered, walking away slowly, approaching the podium where the black gem sat. She held the orb over the gem, before slowly letting go. Surprisingly, the orb remained in place.

Slowly, the orb started to decrease in size, and filtered down into the gem below, where the energy of the orb entered the gem. A slight, bright white glow emitted from the gem, through the metal cage that surrounded it.

"Hmm.. interesting.." Fear muttered under his breath, before walking off once the entire orb had vanished entirely.

Batibat remained for a few seconds longer, watching the gem intently, desperately even, for any sort of reaction of the energy orb.

But nothing came. The gem just sat there, motionless.

Batibat sighed slightly, before she approached the wall, looking over the many choices she had. However, with her back to the gem, a faint red glow emitted from the entirely black gem. Like a red pupil, looking through a black eye.


	4. Episode 3 - Identity

Episode 3 - Identity

"Why would Savage want us here," Kyle broke off to yawn loudly, "At the crack of dawn?"

"How the hell would any of us know?" Matthew asked, rubbing his hands up and down his face, trying to rub the sleep out of his eyes.

The other three stood in silent - Natalie looking like she was about to fall asleep against the tree - all standing in the middle of the forest. The sun barely above the horizon, and the sunlight wasn't breaking through the low hanging clouds. In any other time of day or situation, they probably would have thought the scenery would be nice.

Those people were probably fully awake.

"And where the hell is Savage? His fucking Howler woke me up, and I only got here so it wouldn't wake my sis up," Tanya muttered, trying to do something with her appearance, bed-hair still affecting her, a few strands of short brown hair sticking out at random angles.

"I see you all arrived."

The five turned to look at the source, and found that, finally, Savage had turned up, only he had removed the black-and-red accented trench coat. He only wore the trousers of his usual attire, revealing the broad shoulders, lean torso and masses of thick fur covering his body, usually covered by the clothing he wore.

"Not like you gave us much of a choice," Matthew grunted, shaking his head slightly, removing the last remnants of sleep from his weary eyes.

"I need to train you, and it's better to do so sooner rather than later," Savage replied with, his tone flat, as he moved into the small clearing that sat beside the trees the teens were situated in.

"Hey, I've already got training in martial arts," Tanya said defensively.

Savage looked to Tanya, before replying, "I am not familiar with that style of fighting. So, I am going to teach you the fighting style that everyone in my clan was taught."

"Isaac, I will be assessing you first," Savage instructed, not giving Tanya a chance to reply, and moved to stand at one side of the clearing, gesturing for the Red Warrior to move to the other side of the clearing.

Isaac looked to the others before slowly walking over to the spot Savage gestured to. The others all decided to relax for the time being, Matthew propping himself against a tree, as did Tanya, while Kyle and Natalie took a seat on a fallen tree, taking out their phones.

"An Alpha must lead his Pack, but he cannot go alone. The correct fighting style is essential in battle. Your fighting with Ret-Kli was sheer luck and timing. You in particular are going to need more training," Savage berated, hands folding behind his back.

"Gee, way to encourage me," Isaac said with a raised eyebrow, but stayed where he was regardless.

"I'm not here to encourage you, I'm here to ensure you know how to fight," Savage replied, before saying, "Morph into your Warrior form and we'll fight."

"Alright then," Isaac said, before he raised his Howler-mounted wrist across his chest and pressed onto the crystal, sliding it forward. He was covered in a brief flash of white light, and in his place stood the red, black and silver armor of the Red Wolf Warrior.

"The honor of the Red Alpha Warrior was the goal of the most skilled warrior of my clan. The speed, strength and stamina were a part of their regular training, and these were only enhanced with the introduction of the Howler's predecessor," Savage began, seeing the red clad teenager stand before him.

Through the visor of his helmet, Isaac looked back at Savage; there was a look in Savage's eye that was…strange. He'd seen that look in several humans before, it resembled knowing.

 _"Did you know the original Red Warrior, Savage?"_ Isaac asked, standing with his arms resting at his sides, his silver fists curled into relaxed fists.

Savage's look quickly changed; his eyes hardening ever so slightly, his clawed-hands curling into slightly tighter fists, before he relaxed them again.

"He was one of my clan. We all knew each other well," Savage said lowly, before he straightened his stance and added, "Now, show me what you've got."

Isaac nodded slowly, before shifting his feet to get into a better stance. A few seconds passed, before Isaac rushed forward, closing the gap between the two in mere seconds.

He threw punches at Savage's face and torso area, the swings of his fists going wide, aiming for the edges of his intended targets.

Savage simply pushed his forearm against the punching punches, sending them slightly off course, taking a few steps back, drawing Isaac further alone. While Isaac let out grunts of effort and energy with every punch, Savage looked, as if anything, he was bored; his expression blank, as he simply blocked and moved Isaac's attacks out of his way.

Deciding on a different target, Isaac added a few kicks, aiming to take out Savage's legs. Though Savage seemed to expect this; raising his leg, blocking the kicks with his clothed shin easily.

Eventually rolling his eyes, Savage grabbed one of Isaac's flying wrists as his fist came flying in, and he swung him behind, sending him flying.

Shouting out in alarm, Isaac suddenly groaned loudly as he collided with a tree, sending the leafs shaking furiously when he made contact. Lifting his head slightly, he looked up slightly, his head spinning rapidly at the previous impact. He saw three Savage's approach him, all sort of blurring together.

Crouching down in front of Isaac, Savage moved his helmet slightly, electing a slight groan of pain from the human.

"Still alive... good," Savage said, releasing the helmet from his grip, letting Isaac's relaxed muscles bring it slouching back against the bark.

"You leave room for your enemies to strike you, swinging your punches too far away from your body. Your punches need to be close to your body, defending yourself, while at the same time, on the offensive," Savage lectured, getting back to his full height and walked back a few paces, as Isaac tried to move, only to groan as new waves of pain shattered through him.

"Go into the facility, MUTT will patch you up. We will begin your actual training tomorrow," Savage added, seeing Isaac slowly easing himself to his feet.

At this announcement, Isaac's head shot up, pain throbbed through his brain, but he ignored it as best he could for now.

"You mean there's more?" He asked, panting slightly.

"This was just your assessment," Savage stated plainly, before turning around and walked back to the area where the other teens sat. All of whom had turned their heads to watch the fight; all staring, wide-eyed, at the short, but somewhat brutal, ending to the assessment.

"Matthew. Beta is next," Savage said, gesturing to the half-asleep blonde, who perked slightly at the mention of his name. He side glanced at the others, before slowly walking forward, passing Isaac as the Red Warrior slowly limped past.

"Uh, guys?" Kyle said, currently looking at his phone, as if looking at a video.

"What?" Natalie asked, turning to look at the other teen. "Another story in the news about us?"

"Actually, yeah."

Natalie lifted her head from her hands moments later, and looked over at Kyle, the others looking to the Black Warrior as well. Matthew took this time to back off a bit, not really liking the idea of getting his ass handed to him like Isaac did.

He'd be the one doing that, normally.

"It's a news article about that Zord fight with Ret-Kli yesterday," Kyle said, turning the phone around to face the others; checking he could press the play button first, before turning around fully.

 _"In other news, there has been a spike of complains about the most recent group of Power Rangers. Still without a name to identify themselves, the Power Rangers caused massive amounts of damage to the Southern part of Pax Valley. It is estimated they have caused at least twelve million dollars' worth of damage to the city, and at least fifteen people were killed."_

The male news-anchor was about to continue, but Tanya angrily pressed the pause button on the video.

"What the hell is this? They're acting like we're the first ones to do this!" She furiously remarked, throwing her hands in the air. "I'm pretty sure the others have caused _billions_ of dollars in damages!"

"Welcome to the Modern Era," Kyle remarked, before flinching slightly when Tanya glared at him; a glare that was usually followed by a punch.

Luckily, it didn't come This time.

"Look, I'm going to get patched up. I'll throw my two cents in when I get back," Isaac said, finally demorphing by this point; holding his side gingerly.

"Get going," Savage said, before looking back to Matthew. "Morph and get ready."

The last thing Isaac remember seeing was the alarmed look dance across Matthew's face before he headed off to patch up.

* * *

"Sir-Sir, I under-Sir, please. I understand your situation; we've had other complaints regarding the incident. I'll transfer you to someone else in the station to take your details down, and we'll investigate later."

The sheriff sighed lowly after transferring the call, and set the phone down once it had gone through to the right department. He wiped his forehead slowly, running his hands down his face to try and relax his face muscles.

It had been chaos today; people phoning in left, right and center - some were hysterical, claiming they had family in the affected areas, while others had been angry, business owners. Well, previously business owners, until their buildings had been reduced to mere rubble or looked unrecognizable.

And he had several people in person had come in, demanding the police did something.

"I need a coffee," He muttered to himself, running a hand through his short brown hair, as he got to his feet. Grabbing the light grey mug, he walked out of his office, and headed to the small kitchen they had built into the facility.

Along the way, he passed several desks, phones ringing constantly, with officers answering the calls and recording details. If he had to guess, about 90% of them would be regarding the 'incident', as he and the other officers were calling it. Better than the 'Giant Megazord tearing up half the city while fighting the freaky monster thing that happened'.

He had really hoped that something like this never happened to his city. Pax Valley wasn't anything like Reefside or Angel Grove.

But, it had happened.

Arriving at the kitchen, he turned the tap on while holding the kettle underneath. The water cap shot out, landing in the kettle up to the desired level.

As he flicked the power on, he leaned against the counter, waiting for the water to boil. The milk was in the fridge, but he didn't need that until he had finished. The coffee's home was on the counter, near the kettle.

"Another call, sir?"

Anderson turned to look to the doorway. Standing just beyond the kitchen doorway, another officer stood, a takeaway cup of fresh coffee in hand. The dark blue shirt tucked into his black trousers, black tie matching the trousers.

"They're not stopping, Rogers," Anderson replied, heaving a light sigh, resting one of his hands against his forehead, shaking his head slightly.

Rogers shook his head slightly, saying, "We've got half of the department working on taking the calls, sir. Hopefully, we'll be able to catalog them all before the end of the day."

"Any word from forensics about Seth and Charles?" Anderson asked, the kettle boiling and switching off. Anderson grabbed the coffee and a heaping spoonful of the granules into his cup. By this time, the water had grown quiet from the boiling, hopefully, to the right temperature he liked.

As he poured water into the kitchen, Rogers replied, "We haven't found any fingerprints or samples from the assailant. We're assuming it was one of the creatures that started appearing when those Monsters turned up."

"We still need to identify what the hell those things are, and where they came from," Anderson muttered, setting the kettle down again. "Notify me if anyone finds anything about those creatures or the Power Rangers," Anderson added, approaching the fridge and grabbing the milk from the fridge door.

"Yes sir," Rogers said, and left just as Anderson closed the fridge door, milk in hand.

* * *

"Amazing how the Humans so quickly turn on each other," Batibat mused, hand resting on her chin as she observed a human on the viewing portal. Except this one wasn't one of the Warriors that she would normally be interested in.

This one wore a strange piece of clothing, nothing like she was used to seeing the humans wear. Then again, she considered most things humans wore strange.

"Turning on the Warriors; their protectors," Batibat muttered under her breath, glancing at the Wall of Demons, mainly focusing on that blank spot where Ret-Kli had been imprinted into before he was destroyed.

Slowly getting to her feet, Batibat walked over to the Wall, hands holding together behind her back, eyes glancing from brick to brick.

"Perhaps... we could use this to our advantage," She said to herself, releasing one of her hands from behind her and trailing it over the old bricks that made up the Wall. Her fingers coming to a stop on one brick in particular; depicting the faint outline of a spiked Demon.

"Tecitu... He could be of use."

Performing the same ritual as she did with summoning Ret-Kli, Batibat slowly removed the imprint of the spiked Demon from the wall, leaving a blank brick in its place. She flicked the print to one side, leaving it floating through the air slowly. She summoned a portal and flicked that towards the floating imprint.

The portal passed over the imprint, opening up to the size of a taller human. Slowly, a humanoid shape passed into the physical world, revealing the first of the arms. Medium-sized spikes attached to a shoulder pad, with large, muscular arms, tinted a faint green, leaving to a clenched fist.

More of the creature passed through the portal, revealing a leather slash going across his torso, attaching the armor pad on the left shoulder to the other shoulder, and the large belt around his waist. A smooth head came into view, with a pair of completely yellow eyes glaring into nothing.

By the time the creature was fully out of the portal, the other arm was visible, another shoulder armor pad over the other broad shoulder, more spikes protruding out of the shoulder armor.

A deep, feral growl escaped him, and he tensed his muscles, more spikes ripping through the back, breaking through the skin. Remnants of green blood stuck to the jagged spikes, most likely from the creature itself.

"I have awoken…" Tecitu growled, nostrils flared as he spoke, looking around slowly. Seeing the figure in black approaching him, he turned around fully, facing the significantly smaller she-Demon.

"Because of me, on orders of the Master, you have been selected to attack the Mortals. Your actions will help the cause set forth by the Master," Batibat said, stopping just before the hulking Demon, arms slowly folding over her chest.

Tecitu growled lowly, staring down at the small creature that dare give him orders, but he knew he had to obey.

The Hand of the Master had spoken, and he was compelled to obey her, for fear of the consequences.

"Yes, Mistress."

* * *

"Ow! Ow! Jeez! Don't you have any anesthetic or something? Jesus!"

Isaac glared at MUTT, who stared back at the human with his blank slit where his eyes should be. The needle had just been pulled through one of the cuts that covered Isaac's side.

" _I'm afraid I do not. I am very limited on my supplies on modern medicine."_

"How can you have a limited... wait. How did you even get any modern medicine?" Isaac asked, drumming his fingers of his free side against the table he was sat on.

" _It was all I could gather from your local place of healing during its construction,"_ MUTT explained, turning back to stitching the needle through the skin around the cut. Despite Isaac's complaints, MUTT made quick work of the wounds.

"So, what's with Savage?" Isaac eventually asked, after a long period of silence had filled the area.

" _What do you mean?"_

"Just... what's his deal? He's hated us since we turned up at this place. He always has this... glare, or scowl across his face. I just don't get it."

MUTT paused momentarily as he stitched up the last of the open cuts, before pulling the rest of the thread through the hole, making sure the wound was tightly compressed.

" _Savage hasn't had the best history with humans,"_ MUTT said mysteriously, nudging Isaac's arm up when it started to lower too low.

Lifting his arm again, Isaac asked, "Care to elaborate?"

" _He hasn't told me much of his life post the Ancient Warrior's death. I've only managed to gather together over the time I've known him. It had something to do with his clan post the Warriors. If I had to guess, humans attacked his clan and he was among the few that survived."_

"Can't say I blame him," Isaac muttered softly, his face twitching slightly in pain every so often as MUTT progressed with the stitching.

" _All done,"_ MUTT said, cutting the rest of the fabric first. He tapped Isaac's shoulder and took a step aside.

Isaac got to his feet, looking at himself in a small mirror MUTT had managed to find in one of the other rooms connected to the main one Isaac hadn't visited yet.

"Reckon these are going to scar?" Isaac asked, glancing over his shoulder to the robot.

" _Unfortunately, I believe so,"_ MUTT said, throwing the needle to one side of the room, returning to the computer he had been at when Isaac arrived.

"Nice," Isaac muttered with a smirk, putting his top back on and sliding it over his torso. He then walked over to his jacket, mindful of the cuts.

"So. what are we gonna call this place then?" Isaac asked, looking around the main room, hands slowly sliding into his jacket pockets.

" _I'm sorry?"_

"This place? We've got to have a name for it. We can just keep calling it the 'Command Center' or whatever. We need a proper name."

" _And what would you suggest, Isaac?"_

"How the hell would I know? Ask Kyle, he'll come up with something. Actually, scratch that, he'll say something stupid or too comical."

" _Very well, sir,"_ MUTT said, his back to Isaac as he worked on whatever he was working on.

Isaac checked his hands from his jacket pocket to his trouser pocket, and pulled out his phone.

"Shit, I need to get to class," Isaac said, seeing the time read nearly ten in the morning.

" _I'm afraid that you won't be able to do that,"_ MUTT said, stepping aside from the monitor he was facing.

"What do you... Oh for fucks sake," Isaac said, his shoulders slouching as he saw what was on the screen. "I'm so going to get my ass chewed out for this."

On screen, he saw a massive, green-skinned and spiked creature flipping over cars, sending them rolling across the street, coming to a stop against the sides of buildings. Several Wolkeins rushed across the street, trying to strike at civilians as they ran.

"I guess I'm going to have to tell the others then?" Isaac asked, glancing at MUTT as he gestured to the entrance and exit of the Command Center.

" _If you could be so kind,"_ MUTT said, tapping away at the keyboard again, adding, _"I will be teleporting you five to the location of the incident."_

"You're so great, MUTT," Isaac said, sarcasm dripping from his voice, as he headed outside.

MUTT looked as Isaac headed out, turning his attention back to the monitor he had been working on. He then began tapping the keyboard again.

* * *

"Hey, guys," Isaac called, heading up the hill leading to the training area, where he had left Savage assessing the others. When he had left, Savage had been ready to kick Matthew's ass.

When he reached the top of the hill, and approached the clearing among the trees, he just saw Savage put Kyle to the ground, pressing a foot firmly on his armored chest. He could hear the groan of pain from here.

"What is it?" Savage asked, looking up to face Isaac as he approached.

" _It's alright! I've got him right where I want him!"_ Kyle said, his voice strained as he lay underneath Savage, his hands grabbing at Savage's trousers. Only to have more pressure put onto his chest, causing him to shout in pain.

"MUTT got an alert; this big Hulk-wannabe's attacking the city," Isaac said, gesturing in the general direction of the city. The teens who weren't under Savage all looked at Isaac; it was at this point that Isaac noticed Matthew was favoring one side of his body when he pushed himself to both his feet.

" _Hulk? Green skin?"_ Kyle asked, trying to shift Savage's foot off of him, feeling like the claws at the end of each of his toes were going to dig into his chest through the armor.

"Tecitu," Savage concluded, finally releasing Kyle from underneath his foot; the Black Warrior quickly rolling out of the way, pushing himself to his feet slowly. He brushed the dirt from the back of his armor, giving the thumbs up to the others.

"Tec.. who?" Tanya asked, stepping forward, hands pushing into her pockets.

"Tec-itu," Savage said slowly, a slight edge to his voice, the edges of his muzzle curling up slightly, revealing his fangs. "Another one of the Demons the Warriors fought; his strength is unmatched to any of Horror's Demons."

" _Well, that's something positive,"_ Kyle commented dryly, trying to itch a scratch through the neck armor of his suit.

"Look, we need to get going; MUTT said he'd be transporting us in five minutes. And that was about three minutes ago."

Savage narrowed his eyes slightly, before looking to the other teens. "We will continue this training once you defeat Tecitu. You will all observe Natalie's assessment," Savage eventually said.

"Wait, wait. So, Tanya's already been?" Isaac asked, looking to the other teens; specifically Tanya.

It was then he noticed there didn't seem to be any injury to Tanya; she didn't favor any side, nor did she have any cuts across her arms or blood stains under her top. He'd just assumed it was because he was saving the females 'til last.

" _Hell yeah! She kicked his ass!"_ Kyle exclaimed, electing a low growl from Savage. Kyle quickly looked away, whistling innocently.

"You five better get going," Savage said sharply, looking at the others. The other three teens standing by the trees quickly got up, all walking over to the same place. It looked a little strange, Kyle the only one being morphed.

"This Demon is different than Ret-Kli; you aren't going to be able to use swords to cut him up. You'll need to match brute force with brute force."

Nodding slightly, Isaac raised his Howler wrist, pressing into the crystal. "Ready guys?"

"Ready," Matthew said, raising his Howler wrist.

"Oh yeah," Tanya replied, crossing the Howler over her chest.

"Ready," Natalie replied, pressing her white crystal.

"United, we Howl!"

With a brief flash of light and an image of a wolf passing over the four, they stood in their morphed form. Moments later, the five morphed Warriors were carried off in columns of their respective colors.

Savage watched as the colors shot into the air, and headed through the sky towards the area of the attack. He exhaled slowly, heading towards the hidden entrance for the Command Centre.

"She fights like Yei..." he said to himself as he walked.

* * *

' _All available officers, report! Civilians under attack at the West Industrial Area! All available units, head to West Industrial Area!'_ was the call that went out to all police cruiser radio's throughout the western part of the city.

All of the cruisers that were available all changed directions, sirens blaring, as they made their way to the industrial park. Cars pulled out of the way, leaving paths for cruisers to cut through as they rushed to the park.

Arriving through the south entrance of the Industrial Park, the cruisers all made the right turn for the part of the park affected, skidding to a stop.

"Oh shit," said one of the officers as a number of them got out of their cruisers, seeing the mess that as in front of them.

Running towards them, was several humans, donning high-visibility jackets and hard hats, shouting and looking behind them, at the pale creatures rushing towards them, wielding daggers as they ran at the humans.

"Get the civilians out of here!" the lead officer shouted, pulling his pistol out of its holster, aiming it at the creatures chasing the humans.

Several of the officers who hadn't drawn their pistols yet quickly moved a few steps forward, guiding the workers out of the way, trying to get as many out of the way as possible, before the creatures reached them.

Several shots were fired once the civilians were clear, aimed at the shoulders and torsos of the creatures. But the bullets passed through them seamlessly, entering and exiting the body without leaving so much as an entry and exit wound. No blood. No wound.

Nothing.

Shouts echoed around the relatively quiet industrial park, as officers were tackled by up to three of the creatures at once, pinning them to the ground. The sound of bones shattering came from the piles of creatures over humans, followed by their pained screams.

One of the officers, looking rather young and new to the force, quickly ducked behind his cruiser's open door, hearing the screams of his fellow officers. His hands, shaking, tried to grip his gun, looking around the corner of the door, only to yell out in panic as a pale grey hand grabbed the edge of the door, gripping it with inhuman strength. A groan of metal was followed shortly after, and the officer was no longer in cover. The door was sent sailing into the air, far beyond his sight.

The officer quickly turned and pushed himself back, trying to crawl on his back away from the creature. It quickly climbed over the officer, pulling its arm back, dagger in hand.

Staring wide-eyed up, the officer flinched, his eyes closing tightly. Believing this to be his imminent death.

But he the stabbing pain didn't come; nor did the searing pain come.

Instead, the sound of a gargled shout of pain came from over him; peaking slightly, he opened his eyes fully to see the creature over him, the blade of a sword stabbing through its front. Green blood escaped the cut, trickle down onto the officer.

" _Lying down on the job, officer?"_ Came a robotic voice from above him, the blade pulled free of the creature's chest, sending it falling backwards. The officer's eyes looked around, and his eyes landed on the Red Power Ranger.

"W... We have this under control! We can handle this!" The officer said, though there was an obvious shake in his voice as he spoke.

" _You're doing a bang up job!"_ Came another robotic voice, and the officer turned to look around. The other Power Rangers were present, fighting off the creatures with melee weapons of their own. The creatures seemed drawn to them, leaving the dead bodies of the fallen officers alone to attack the Rangers.

" _Look, get your guys out of here. You can't handle this, we can. Go,"_ The Red Ranger said, pulling the officer to his feet, and pushed him towards the back of his cruiser. _"Pretty sure it's a safety hazard to drive without a door, so take one of the other cruiser."_

A great roar suddenly shook the ground beneath them, causing both the officer and Red Ranger to turn to the source. A blue mass flew through the air and crash landed on the roof of police cruiser's besides their own, shattering glass and creaking metal.

" _Not that one,"_ The Red Ranger said, before he ran around their cruiser, rushing to the Blue Ranger. Leaving the officer by himself until he was grabbed by one of his colleagues and they quickly rushed off.

" _Matthew!"_ Isaac said, sliding over the front of a cruiser, climbing onto the car to check on the Blue Warrior.

He groaned softly, trying to pick himself up from the dent left in the roof of the cruiser. _"Ow,"_ He said slowly, rubbing the side of his helmet as Isaac helped him up. _"I think I ran into that Hulk-wannabe,"_ Matthew added, gesturing to the general direction he was thrown from.

Isaac turned to look at the area, and saw that the others, after finishing off the Wolkeins, had rushed to intercept Tecitu. Except each of them was flung back by the muscular forearms of the hulking Demon, sending them crashing into the sides of buildings either side of the road. Kyle was sent crashing through one of the few offices, sending himself through desk and rooms.

Natalie was sent towards the small oil refinery just a few buildings down from where their current location. Tanya went flying just beyond the border of the industrial park, crashing out of sight.

" _He's bigger than I imagined,"_ Isaac commented, before he flicked his sword around, rushing towards the great creature. Hoping Savage had been wrong about the advice.

Turns out, he should have listened.

Tecitu turned at the last moment, just as Isaac swung his sword at the creature's arms; the blade made contact with the muscular arm, and didn't cut through the skin. Time seemed to slow down as the blade didn't even make the tinniest cut.

" _What?"_ Isaac asked to himself, before he looked aside and saw the other fist came flying towards his face.

He was sent flying back, the sword shooting through the air in the other direction, as he was flung back, right where he helped Matthew.

Leaning over Isaac's body, Matthew asked, _"See what I mean?"_

" _No, I don't,"_ Isaac grunted, slowly pulling himself to a sitting position, grabbing the offered hand presented to him by Matthew. On his feet once again, he looked at Matthew, asking, _"Double team this guy?"_

" _Not many other options,"_ Matthew said, resting the long handle of his spear on his shoulder, before they both faced the approaching giant Demon.

" _Let's do this,"_ Isaac said, before the two of them ran, rushing to reach the looming Demon. Matthew held onto his spear with two hands, flicking the bottom end of the spear, trying to slam the blunt end against the side of the Demon's head. He got a back-hand for his effort, sending him head-first into the ground.

Isaac tried punching at Tecitu's torso, but felt like he was punching into a brick wall. He winced silently, feeling pain throb through his closed hand.

The massive hand wrapped around his neck, squeezing tightly, as though it was trying to squeeze the life out of him. Isaac gasped loudly, wrapping his hands around the large fingers, trying to pry them apart.

"I have no time for you petty Warriors..." Tecitu growled, his vomit-inducing breath exhaling over Isaac's helmet. After another few seconds of life-ending pressure, the grip around his neck finally loosened.

Collapsing to the ground, Isaac gasped out loudly, rolling onto his side as he looked back at the Demon. Tecitu stepped back, before turning around and, crouching down slowly, suddenly jumped into the air. Using the strength in his legs to propel him into the unknown.

A few seconds of silence passed, as Isaac desperately tried to regain his breath, his lungs trying to get oxygen into his blood again.

" _Hey, everybody alright?"_ Kyle's voice came over the comms, drawing Isaac's attention away from the small crater left behind by the massive Demon.

" _I've been better,"_ Matthew's voice replied.

" _I think I've pissed some people off at the refinery,"_ Natalie said.

" _I fucked up someone's garden,"_ Tanya's voice burst in.

" _Eh, I've pissed people off in this office. Fucked up the printer,"_ Kyle said, before adding, _"Isaac, you OK?"_

" _Yeah... Yeah, I'm OK,"_ Isaac replied eventually, still breathing a bit heavier. _"We need to regroup. Head back to the Center and get our shit together."_

* * *

"Well, that could have gone better," Kyle said, standing to the side in the main Command Room, arms folded over his chest. He had a few cuts across his cheeks and one over his right eye. Thankfully, the blood had dried up, so it wasn't getting in his eye again.

"You think?" Matthew asked, as MUTT carefully dabbed one of the last cuts, cutting the thread from the needle he had used to sew the wound shut.

The five of them had managed to find the others after Tecitu had leapt off and they had got confirmation of their suspicions when reports starting coming out about a giant green monster attacking parts of the city. Though they all ended the same.

The monster suddenly disappearing through a strange portal, leaving nothing more but a train of destruction in its wake.

Isaac stood to one side, leaning against one of the desks that filled the room, seeing Savage doing the same on the opposite side of the room.

Tanya, Kyle and Natalie were all scattered around the room; Tanya had her forehead resting against the desk, a bag of ice planted between the skin and metal and Kyle, despite his cuts, was flicking through his phone, keeping the others updated on anything regarding any attacks on the city.

As well as any more reporters ranting about them.

Natalie, too, had taken a seat at one of the desks, head resting in her hands. "We got our asses handed to us today," She muttered, dragging her hands down her face slowly and lifting it free at the end.

"If you five had listened to my advice and used brute force instead to take out Tecitu, you probably wouldn't be in this situation," Savage said aloud, walking around the area MUTT was stitching up Matthew.

" _Tanya,"_ MUTT said, gesturing for Matthew to move when he had finished, and turned to look at Tanya. She lifted her head up at the mention of her name, the odd strand of hair sticking to her forehead from the water, and slowly got to her feet.

As she sat down on the bench, and MUTT examined the bruises forming across her face, and few cuts across her neck and cheek, Isaac turned to look Savage, a look of disbelief across his face.

"You expect us to do everything perfect? We're fucking teenagers! Not adults! We're not fighters; none of us are fighters!" Isaac exclaimed, his voice raised in a loud shout, catching the attention of the other teens, MUTT and Savage.

"Hey, I'm trained," Tanya shot.

"You're trained to impress a fucking instructor. None of us have any combating experience," Isaac snapped at Tanya, pointing a finger accusingly at the Yellow Warrior.

"Fuck you!" Tanya snapped, pushing MUTT's hands aside and getting to her feet, bearing down on Isaac quickly.

"Guys, not now," Natalie said, getting up and approached the Red and Yellow Warriors. They were toe-to-toe, glaring each other down.

But they didn't seem to take any noticed of the others trying to break them apart as they continued to glare at one another, throwing abuse every chance they got.

"Enough!" Savage snarled, his clawed hands grabbing each of the teen's shoulders, dragging them apart from each other. To add emphasis to his words, he dug the claw on his thumb through their clothes, threatening to break the skin.

"Fuck!"

"What the hell?!" Tanya exclaimed, trying to rip herself free of the wolf-man's hold. But it was an iron grip. Not even at full health would she have been able to tear free of his grip.

"You two need to work together if you are to defend this world from Horror's wrath. That doesn't mean you have to like working together, but you must learn to hide any bad blood when fighting," Savage instructed, adding a bit more pressure into the fabric, the claw tip threatening to draw blood before he released their shoulders altogether.

"Alright, tell us, Savage. Why the hell are did you choose us? Hmm? If what you said about the bloodlines is true, then you didn't choose to use our parents? Why is that?" Isaac asked, ripping his shoulder from Savage's loosened grip, glaring daggers at the wolf-man.

Savage's eyes glared right back at Isaac, displaying a similar fire to the Red Warrior's. Though Isaac noticed there was a slight flicker in Savage's gaze, looking to the right, at something out of Isaac's vision.

"My research told me that a group must be around the same age to work together well. Some of the options of the previous blood generations were... unavailable," Savage responded lowly, hands slowly moving behind his back, and walked away.

Isaac watched as Savage turned to walk away, before tearing his gaze away to look at whatever Savage had been looking at previously. He saw that Natalie and Matthew looked back, at both him and Tanya. It was then that he noticed Kyle.

His head was down, looking at his phone that sat in his hand; though there was something... off. He didn't have that same presence to him like he usually did.

Already having a good idea at what Savage was talking about, the lights dimming suddenly growing dim caught Isaac's attention, drawing it back over to Savage and MUTT.

"You carry a legacy on your shoulders that even the previous Warriors may have... struggled with," Savage started, a projection coming from an unknown location, displaying itself on the curved wall opposite wall.

"I may not be able to fully understand what you suffer under, but my brothers came close to," Savage continued, as images started coming up onto the projection, appearing like carvings, depicting battles focusing on five figures. They all carried similar weapons, appearing like curved blades, hands grasped in holes built into the back of the blade. They all looked humanoid, but masks across their faces depicted long muzzles and armor across them, hugging their bodies.

"You carry the legacy of the Ancient Warriors on your shoulders," Savage said, before the images was replaced with what appeared to be stock-footage.

Multi-colored figures, fighting variously different grunts, kicking ass. All of the teens were facing the projection by this point, Tanya even turning away from Isaac to look at the screen.

"And a much more modern set of Warriors as well," Savage added, as the screen started flashing between various group shots of the various Rangers, all enemies defeated.

"Two legacies rest on your shoulders... A great stress for many people,"

The projection slowly died, and the lights brightened again, Savage walking forward once more to stand in the center of the room, facing the five teens.

"At first, I didn't think the five of you were ready for the responsibility I have given you, and honestly, I still don't think you do," Savage said, before MUTT made a subtle 'stop' gesture from his position behind the humans, who all had a look of annoyance dancing across their faces. "But right now, you five are all that stands between this world and total chaos, ruled by those Demons. And to do that, you five need to work as a pack to defeat them," Savage finished, his hands returning to his sides.

"You all harness the spirit of the wolf. Prove that you are worthy of that honor."

His arms slowly folding over his chest, Isaac glanced over his shoulder, seeing Matthew and Kyle shared a quick look, along with Natalie. Isaac turned his gaze the other way to find Tanya was side glancing at him in return.

One by one, the five teens turned their eyes to Savage. "The Power Rangers have been in a good image for the last fifteen-something years. I'm pretty sure we haven't got the same thing going for us," Natalie said, gesturing to Kyle's phone, which laid on the desk where Kyle was standing again.

"I've told you before, the sacrifices you make are for the good of the many. You think the Ancient Warriors were like your Rangers? They made sacrifices to save the masses! If a few died so that the greater population could survive, they knew that was the only decision," Savage responded, gesturing to the area the projection had been.

"And what about our lives after this? Assuming that we actually live until this is over. Our education? If we're here fighting Demons, our education is going down the shitter," Isaac said, his fingers drumming over his other arm.

"MUTT is working on something to help you with that," Savage said, gesturing to the robot. All of the teens looked over to MUTT, who was facing away from them, working on one of the many computers scattered across the room.

Exhaling through his nose slowly, Isaac turned back to look at Savage, saying, "Well, I guess we can do this."

Once all of the Warriors were facing Savage again, MUTT glanced back, gesturing for the wolf-creature to continue with his speech.

Seeing the gesture, Savage glanced around the five teens. "And, as a show of my support of your efforts, any questions you want to ask, I will answer. About the Warriors. Their Powers. Anything."

At this offer presented to them, Isaac nodded slowly, looking between the other teens. "I think we can work with that."

"Now we just have to wait for the Hulk to turn up," Tanya said, walking a few steps away to look across at MUTT.

" _Any updates and I will tell you,"_ MUTT responded, moving across to work on two different monitors.

"Looks like we're playing the waiting game," Natalie said, leaning against the wall lightly.

"And when we face this guy, we're gonna need something to fight him with. Our weapons are useless," Matthew stated. His back still somewhat sore from the landing.

"MUTT and I are working on something for that."

* * *

The streets were paced with people, rushing to and fro along both sides of the street. Some carrying bags, others just trying to work their way between the crowds of people, heading to wherever they wanted to go. All seemed normal.

For the minute, anyway.

In the middle of the street, a large black-and-green portal ripped through what appeared to be thin air. This caught the attention of most of the people in the area surrounding the portal, and those that didn't, quickly took note when they noticed everyone else was looking at something.

Some pulled out their phones, recording the same event that appeared before them, having never seen something like this. Sure, they had heard rumors around the town, but most hadn't seen one in the physical form.

That was when the creatures appeared.

Pale creatures, wearing limited black armor, started pouring out of the portal, like a swarm of locus escaping through a narrow tube. They looked around rapidly, spreading out. Climbing over cars, feral growls escaping the numbers, as they focused on the many humans lining each side of the road.

People started to run, shoving others out of the way in the hope to escape before the rest. Screams finally started to fill the air, as well as the sound of car breaks coming to a screeching halt. Rubber skid marks filled the road from both directions, as cars tried to avoid crashing; both into each other, and the strange humanoid creatures.

Until they were pulled from their cars through smashed windows, daggers slashing at their flesh, blood being drawn, soaking into the asphalt. The numerous attacks triggered more screaming, prompting more panic from the crowds.

More of the creatures poured from the portal, flooding the street like some kind of flash mob, only out for blood.

As the civilians started to thin, by a mixture of running and falling to blades, a massive weight walked from the portal - a large, muscular figure, armor donning its shoulders, spikes shooting from the armor plating, as yellow eyes bore into all those that dare look into them.

Tecitu looked around the Human Realm, disgust written across his facial features, one side of his lips curled up, displaying his rotten teeth. The humans were a pest, eating their way across the land, creating their own world in the land that belonged to the Master.

The more these thoughts circled around his head, the angrier he became, screwing his larger-than-life hands into tightly wound fists. Letting out a mighty roar, slamming his fists down into the street.

A great quiver ran throughout the ground, cracks appearing through the normally solid asphalt, sending chunks flying into the air. Some of the cars were sent dropping into the gaps created by the cracks, alarms blaring from the parked cars lining the sides of the road.

" _Hey Fugly!"_

A bolt of energy struck his hunched over form; though far too weak to even begin breaking through his armor or the skin. Though it did draw his attention from driving the Wolkeins towards the crowd.

Growling, Tecitu turned around, teeth bared at those that dare challenge him.

Approaching him in one line, the five Warriors. The Yellow Warrior had her bow drawn, lowering it back to her side. Once they were a suitable distance from Tecitu, the Five came to a stop. One foot in front of the other, silently facing the large Demon.

"I see you didn't get the message last time... so I won't be as gentle," Tecitu growled, clenching and unclenching his fists as he took a step towards the Warriors.

The Warriors all looked at one another in turn, before the Pink Warrior spoke. _"Funny, we were about to say something similar to you."_

" _Get ready to be in for a world of pain,"_ Added the Blue Warrior, cracking his fingers slowly. The robotic-adjustments to his voice making it seem like a faint growl at the end of his sentence.

Snarling in response, Tecitu began taking steps towards the Warriors, throwing cars to the side, removing them from his path between him and the Warriors.

" _Alright guys, let's see if what Savage worked on is worth it,"_ Isaac said, looking to the others, as he raised his Howler to his helmet, and tapped one of the small buttons. _"Feel free to send it over, Savage."_

" _On the way,"_ Was the response of the Wolf-Man.

From the sky above where the Warriors stood, a great beam of light descended, striking the ground between the Demon and the Warriors. The intensity of the light blinded Tecitu temporarily, forcing him to raise one of the large arms to cover his eyes from the light, taking a few steps back with a low snarl.

"What sorcery is this?" Tecitu snarled, lowering his arm ever so slightly to glance at the glaring light. The light continued to beam down from the sky, before disappearing moments later.

And what was in its place, was something the Demon hadn't seen before it his existence.

Resting in the hands of the Five Warriors, was what appeared to be an engraved, molded shape of metal. Possibly hollow, judging that they weren't struggling underneath the weight of it. Two long barrels came out from the front, being held by the White and Black Warriors. The end of the barrels appeared to be in the shape of wolf's heads, with the muzzles opened, and fangs bared.

Silver and black in color, designs were etched into the sides and top. The further it moved towards the back, it angled upward slightly, making it almost level with the Red Warrior's shoulder. Width-wise, it was now wider than the Blue Warrior's shoulders.

" _Designs are a bit over the top,"_ Kyle muttered lowly, looking at the device that had landed in his and the others' hands.

" _Savage said that it was to do with the soul charge. I'm calling bullshit on it but, either way,"_ Isaac said, shrugging his shoulders slightly before turning his attention back to the Demon. _"But let's see what this puppy can do."_

The others nodded, Kyle and Natalie dropping to one knee, resting the barrel of the weapon on their shoulders. Tanya and Matthew took a step back, standing beside Isaac. Two handles came out from either side of the weapon. The two dropped to one knee, one arm supporting the weapon from underneath and the other hand grabbing a hold of the handles.

"What is this?!" Tecitu demanded, taking steps closer to the Warriors.

" _Let's finish this,"_ Isaac said, placing one of his hands, open palm, on the back of the weapon. At the five palms firmly planted on the weapon, energy started to build within the weapon. Inside the weapon, swirls of Red, Blue, Yellow, Black and White energy came together from the points where the hands of the Warriors were placed. Combining together in the base of the weapon, the energy began to build.

" _Focus guys, this is where Savage said it gets hard,"_ Isaac muttered through grit teeth, feeling a strange sensation pass through him, and extended into the weapon. His breathing grew slightly heavier, but he stood up straight.

The others had it slightly easier, resting on one knee, though they all adjusted their grip on the handles and weapon.

" _Howl Cannon charged,"_ Isaac muttered, moving his open hand to another point on the curved end of the weapon.

" _I could've come up with something better,"_ Kyle muttered, before he side glanced to see Natalie looked back at him through her visor.

Gripping a handle that protruding from the back, Isaac turned it sideways, pressing it forward; feeling like something from a submarine.

" _Howl Cannon... Fire!"_ Isaac called.

The energy built up inside the Howl Cannon reached a peak, as the ends of the barrels lit up; a flash of light escaped both barrels, thundering towards the close-quarters Demon.

From the blast of energy, the faint outline of a wolf's head formed; jaw opened, the sound of the energy traveling sounding like a deep growl as it traveled.

"No!" Tecitu shouted, as the large wolf's head of energy overcame him, the white energy jaw snapping shut over the hulking Demon, and explosions rocking the length and width of the street. The remaining windows shattered, and doors were blown in. Some of the loose bricks even fell from the buildings, clattering to the ground.

Dust filled the road, blocking all sight more than a couple of feet.

Waving one of his hands in front of his helmet, Kyle called, _"Maybe that was a little overkill?"_

" _Overkill is underrated,"_ Isaac said, as he too tried to swipe the dust out of his vision.

" _Jesus, which movie did you still that line from?"_ Tanya muttered, as the five of them slowly walked forward to assess the damage.

After a few more steps forward, they finally cleared the dense dust cloud, and they assessed the damage of the street from the blast.

" _Well... shit,"_ Natalie muttered, seeing the excessive damage to the buildings and the cars.

" _Reckon the news is gonna have a field day for this?"_ Isaac asked, his hands coming to rest on his hips as he looked around.

" _Still, on the bright side, no sign of the Hulk wannabe,"_ Kyle said, trying to brighten the mood surrounding the five.

" _Dude, seriously?"_ Matthew asked, turning to face the Black Warrior.

" _What?"_

" _You don't say that until we're completely sure,"_ Matthew replied, before the ground started to shake beneath them.

" _What did I fucking tell you?"_ Matthew snapped, hands clenching into fists.

" _Uh, Savage?"_ Isaac asked into the Howler. _"Demon. Growing."_

" _The Zords are on their way,"_ Savage said over the intercoms just as the completed, towering Tecitu formed just beyond them. A great roar came from the Demon, shaking what windows remained complete, shattering nearly all of them by this point.

Buildings crumbled underneath the massive feet of the Demon, the distant sounds of screams coming from the destroyed areas of the city.

" _Let's do this guys!"_ Isaac said once their Zords had arrived, coming to a stop just before where the Warriors stood. The five jumped into their Zords, coming to a rest in the familiar black emptiness that occupied the operations area of their Wolf's head.

" _Let's not fuck about. Put them together, and deal with this guy for a second time,"_ Isaac ordered, closing his eyes to focus.

Among the hisses of steam and the growls from the various Wolf Zords, the combination to form the Megazord was initiated, finishing by standing in the middle of the city, facing the Tecitu.

"So what Batibat said was true... You do have powers greater than before. But it won't be enough," Tecitu growled, eyes burning in anger as he stared down the Megazord.

" _Who the hell is he talking about?"_ Matthew said, looking to the others.

" _How hell would I know?"_ Tanya replied.

" _Focus guys,"_ Isaac warned, as he began willing the Megazord forward, to meet Tecitu in battle. The others quickly followed suite, willing the portions of the Megazord into battle.

Tecitu approached the Megazord, his hands screwing into tightly wound fists, pulling them back to strike.

The five Warriors raised the left forearm of the Megazord to block the attack, but the force of the punch still sent the Megazord stumbling back a few steps. Sparks flying and metal plating warping under the force. The five staggered in the head of the Megazord, their vision of the Demon shaking.

" _Still packs quite a punch,"_ Kyle commented.

" _Not now, Kyle!"_ Isaac said, as he led the five into righting the Megazord again.

They barely righted the Megazord before another hit struck the Megazord's head, sending solid vibrations throughout the head, shaking the ground the teens off their feet. The Megazord was sent stumbling back as they tried to recover, knocking over a few of the smaller buildings.

Every time they tried to right themselves, Tecitu sent another strike at them; several notable dents starting to appear in the torso's metal, denting the wolf head that lay flat against the chest.

With the latest hit striking them in an uppercut, the force sent the Megazord flying backwards, launching the teens into the invisible back wall of the 'cockpit'. Crushing several buildings beneath the back, the Megazord lay in the ruins of the crumbled buildings.

" _Savage! We're getting our asses kicked! Got any more new toys?"_ Isaac groaned as he pushed himself to his feet. He himself felt beaten up, and there hadn't been a single punch laid on him yet. Unsure if the others felt the same, he pushed himself up fully, trying to will the Megazord up.

The growls of protest surged through his head, causing him to look around widely. _"The hell was that?"_ He muttered, trying to will the Megazord up. Again, the growls of protests echoed again.

" _Work with me here,"_ Isaac grunted, as the others got up.

" _Who are you talking to?"_ Tanya asked, looking across at Isaac as she recovered.

" _Never mind. Savage?"_ Isaac said, tapping the side of his helmet.

" _MUTT has sent something to you guys that may help. Those Wolves weren't the only ones."_ Savage's voice eventually replied.

A great howl came behind the battle between the Megazord and the Demon, causing the former to turn around.

Running from the outskirts of the city, clawing up the ground as it ran towards the scene of the fight, a large, metal shape rushed passed buildings. Running on all fours, the entire body was covered in a mostly grey and black color scheme, grey dominating the back and sides, while black armor covered the legs and neck. A pair of dark green eyes sat in the middle of the grey head, a thin grey metal muzzle protruding, teeth bared, with a low snarl escaping it as the Zord moved.

" _Oh yeah,"_ Matthew commented, rubbing his hands together shortly.

" _Alright, Savage. Walk us through using this guy,"_ Isaac asked, turning the Zord around to face the Demon once more.

" _Firstly, this wolf is female,"_ Savage corrected.

" _It's always the way, isn't it? Assume it's a guy, turns out to be a girl,"_ Kyle muttered, eyes rolling under his helmet.

" _And secondly, one of you will be given a gem to control and summon this Zord for future use,"_ Savage finished.

At that moment, a small ball of light appeared in the center of the black room, catching the five sets of eyes and causing the teens to look at the source. The light source slowly moved around the room, eventually coming to rest above Natalie. It slowly lowered, the light growing dimmer.

Unsure of what else to do, Natalie looked at the others as she held out her combined palms, catching the orb. Upon landing in her hands, the light source dimmed entirely, revealing a small, orb-shaped gem. Transparent grey in color, and what appeared to be a small wolf figurine in the center.

" _It chose me?"_ Natalie asked herself.

" _Girls, eh?"_ Matthew asked, looking between Isaac and Kyle with a shrug.

As neither decided to respond, Savage responded, _"Place the gem in front of you, and the sequence of adding the Zord to the combination."_

Natalie looked at the others, who all looked back, before she picked the gem between her finger and thumb, and held it out in front of her. Half expecting for the gem to just drop the second she let go, she quickly drew her hand back.

Surprisingly, the gem stayed in place, floating in mid-air, the height altering ever so slightly up and down. A brief, grey flash of light escaped from the gem.

Behind the Megazord, the grey Wolf Zord's green eyes flashed, a low growl escaping the curled lips. The Grey Zord ran forward, rushing at the Megazord, launching itself from the ground with the power behind its back legs.

 **-Megazord Sequence-**

As it someone had pushed the replay button, the White Wolf Zord's head and fists disconnected from the main Megazord. The Grey Wolf Zord's back legs folded into the front legs, and the body split straight down the middle, splitting at the neck.

The legs wrapped around the back of the Blue Beta's arms, acting like an exoskeleton, and the combined paws forming fists for the Megazord. Grey toes turned into fingers for the Megazord, flexing briefly.

The head of the Grey Wolf Zord came to a rest on top of the Red Alpha torso. The muzzle extended upward, the underside of the muzzle opening up; revealing a face beneath the panel, a grey mouth cover combined with a set of bright green eyes. The eyes flashed into life, the head turning slightly.

The grey fists slammed against each other a few times, testing the new force behind the punches.

 **-Megazord Sequence Ends-**

The arms lowering slowly to its side, the Megazord's newest form stood before Tecitu, green eyes baring down on the green-skinned behemoth.

" _Oh yeah,"_ Tanya muttered, smirking under her helmet.

" _Anyone else feel that power?"_ Matthew asked, rolling his shoulders and flexing his fingers.

" _Definitely,"_ Isaac confirmed, flexing his fingers as well, looking from side to side. _"Let's test this out."_

As one, the five teens willed the Megazord forward, ready to meet Tecitu again.

Tecitu growled loudly, moving to meet the Megazord for the second round. Screwing his hands into fists, the Demon curled one arm back and threw it towards the Megazord.

Unlike the previous time, the Megazord's blue-and-grey arm raised and blocked the fist as it came in. The impact echoed throughout the area.

"What?" grunted Tecitu, looking at the fist that the Megazord had managed to block. Drawing his attention away from the Megazord.

Away from the other free fist.

The whirl of mechanics cause his attention one again, and Tecitu turned to face the Megazord just as the other exoskeleton-covered fist, delivering a blow to the underside of the Demon's head.

The fists came flying towards the Demon, striking him over his face and his torso, and taking step after step backward, the Megazord advancing forward with every step back the Demon took.

Inside the head of the Megazord, the five Warriors threw punches in sync with each other, all grunting, and keeping their fists close to their bodies when not using them to punch.

Tecitu tried to block the attacks, but the solid punches from the newly upgraded Megazord were too forceful, and able to break through his defenses.

Grabbing the sides of Tecitu's head, the Megazord's head reared back, and slammed forward, head-butting the Demon. Thanks to the reinforcement from the newest Zord, the damage to the Megazord itself from the damage superficial.

" _I say we rip this fuckers' head off,"_ Matthew said, still gripping the sides of the Demon's head. The others looked to the Blue Warrior, before Isaac replied.

" _Looks like our only option,"_ Isaac replied, before he faced forward again. " _Arm around the neck guys,"_ Isaac instructed, just as they delivered the latest blow to the Demon's face, sending him staggering back.

As the Demon tried to recover, the Megazord walked around the Demon. Grabbing his head, the Megazord wrapped one arm around the neck and pulled the Demon up further.

As he struggled, the Megazord gripped the side of the Demon's face, latching onto the head and pressed sideways. The Demon struggled more so, and more pressure was applied to the side of the head.

" _Just a bit more force..."_ Matthew said, straining as he mirrored the stance the Megazord was in; or the Megazord mirrored the stance Matthew and the others were doing.

A sudden, sickening crack echoed through the Megazord, centering from the Demon that now lay limp in the Megazord's clutches. But he didn't stay limp for long. Black and green smoke enveloped the body of Tecitu, and he vanished from the Megazord's grip, the arms jolting slightly from the lack of a solid form to hold, before it righted itself once again.

" _Why the hell do they keep doing that?"_ Tanya growled, willing the Megazord to turn around, Tecitu's body was nowhere in sight.

" _Dammit!"_ Isaac exclaimed, as he and the others willed the Megazord's arms to its side.

* * *

"Why do they keep doing that?!" Tanya exclaimed, pacing in the Command Center, looking at Savage as she turned to return the pace.

The five had demorphed and returned to the Command Room once they were sure the Demon had vanished. The Zords, including the newest Grey Wolf, had run off together, to wherever Savage and MUTT store the Zords.

"The black and green mist that you saw was how the Demons travel between our Realm and their Realm," Savage answered, beginning to regret making the promise…

"Also, who's this Bat-e...bat?" Isaac asked, arms folding over his chest.

Savage turned sharply to look at the Red Warrior at the mention of the name. "Batibat was one of Horror's Warlords during the Demon War, and in particular, she was one of the Hands of Horror."

"'Hands of Horror?'" Natalie asked, raising an eyebrow slightly. "Sounds like something you'd name them, Kyle."

"Hey, mine aren't that crap," Kyle retorted.

"There are always two. There were more, but rumor has it that Horror limited it to two because the Hands kept backstabbing each other."

"Also," Tanya started, "That Grey Wolf Zord you managed to pull out of your ass. How'd you find that?"

Ignoring the dry comment, Savage replied, "When the Warriors were gifted their powers, there were many spirits, from which they could summon them to fight. The Grey Wolf was the Spirit of Strength, hence why you could use her to defeat Tecitu."

"I'm guessing there are others?" Tanya pressed.

"There were many, scattered during the Demon War, their locations were unknown. Thankfully, the Grey Wolf wasn't thrown too far from Pax Valley," Savage said.

"So, we've got to find the others to defeat any other demons Horror throw at us?" Natalie confirmed.

"Correct," Savage replied.

"Hang on, hang on," Kyle said, waving his hands slowly. The others looked to the Black Warrior when he spoke. "'Hands of Horror'? 'Demon War'? All these titles for the Demons, and we still haven't got a name for ourselves," Kyle commented, looking between the others.

"So, and I'm just putting it out there, but I've got a name for us. The news are calling us the 'Wolves of Pax Valley,' so..."

"I'm guessing something to do with Wolves?" Isaac asked.

"We call ourselves... The Wolf Pack," Kyle said, pausing to see the others' reaction.

The others looked between themselves, glancing back at Kyle every once and a while.

"It _does_ have a ring to it," Matthew commented.

"I like it," Natalie threw in.

Savage looked to Isaac, before he said, "You're their Alpha."

Isaac looked to the others, before he said, "Looks like we have our group name."

"And since we're calling ourselves the Wolf Pack, why don't we call this place... the Den?"

Matthew face palmed slowly at this reply, muttering, "And, we're back to normal."

"Hang on," Isaac said, looking to Savage again. "You never did tell us what MUTT did to make sure we don't get our asses chewed out for all the classes we're skipping."

 _"I have hacked into your place of education's database, and located the three of you which attend,"_ MUTT replied, finishing at the computer he was working on and facing the teens.

"You mean you've...faked our attendance?" Natalie asked.

 _"Yes. And I will make changes to your...'grades', I believe, when the time comes in your education year."_

Isaac blinked slowly. "You hacked the school?"

 _"Well, yes. But it was far too easy to be considered hacking,"_ MUTT replied, earning a light chuckle from a couple of the teens.

* * *

"Someone must be helping those Warriors," Fear said as he walked into the main chamber, just as Batibat fed another orb of swirling black-and-green gas into the gem sitting on the podium.

The she-Demon raised her gaze once the orb has vanished into the pendant and asked, "What makes you say that? The Red Warrior surviving, or the fact that another one of their Wolf Spirits were summoned? Of course they have help."

"I thought you assumed that any one that could heal the Red Warrior was dead, so they would soon follow. And yet he lives, and now they have Wolf Spirits summoning left and right. The only question is, who?" Fear asked, slowly folding his armored arms behind his back.

"From what we've learnt, it cannot be the original Warriors. We personally made sure they died."

"Yet we didn't. We confirmed that three of the Warriors were killed and rotting. We do not know of the other two," Fear said, drumming his fingers against his forearm slowly.

"OK, we don't know yet, but we'll learn. And we'll find out soon enough. If it is one of the Warriors we didn't send rotting, they are no threat."

"And what makes you so sure?"

"Because the Master told me."

A small pause filled the area for a second.

"What?" Fear asked.

"The Master told me. Two of the same Warriors cannot exist at once."

"And the Master knows, how?" Fear pressed, leaning forward slightly.

"Because the Master speaks with her. He speaks with Oktrix."


	5. Episode 4 - Spirit Hunting

Episode 4 – Spirit Hunting

All had been going well for the five teens. They had all had the day off, no homework to worry about, and no work to be surprised at.

Well, it _had_ been.

Until they got a call out from Savage about a Demon sudden appearance. Despite their protests, Savage ordered them to get ready for teleportation to the location specified.

Which is where we would find the five teens now; fully morphed, their specific weapons drawn and fending off hoards of the Wolkeins. Green blood was been splattered across the street, some scattered across windows of the surrounding businesses.

Isaac stabbed through a Wolkeins' torso, where a heart would be on a human, before ducking when another Wolkein tried to stab him in the back. Withdrawing the sword from one torso, it was swiftly slicing across another, spewing green blood forth.

Matthew ducked quickly, falling onto his back to avoid the strikes of fists from Wolkeins in front of him. The back of his head hitting the concrete, he groaned briefly before a shadow cast over him.

" _Shit!"_ he exclaimed, quickly rolling to one side, just as the armored foot stamped down. Concrete crumbled under its foot, right where Matthew's head had been resting moments ago.

Rolling onto his foot and knee, Matthew looked up at the number of Wolkeins surrounding him, circling around the kneeling Blue Warrior slowly.

" _Alright, you wanna play like that?"_ Matthew muttered, flexing his fingers around his spear, as he pushed himself to his feet. His other hand wrapped around the spear, and he prepared to shift into the fighting stance. He was stopped, however, where several bolts of yellow energy shot around Matthew, striking through the heads of the foot soldiers.

" _What the...?!"_ Matthew exclaimed, looking around as, one by one, the Wolkeins fell, the arrows that shot through their heads vanishing from sight as they collapsed.

He looked sharply to his left, where he saw Tanya, standing on a decorative piece of concrete besides one of the buildings, where several decorative bushes were planted. Her hand was drawn back, firing another bolt from her bow - right at Matthew.

He side stepped quickly, avoiding the bolt which struck a Wolkein straight through the head just as it was about to attack Matthew behind his back. As it fell to the ground, a cry of pain escaping the creatures' non-existent mouth, Matthew glared at Tanya under his visor.

" _Bit of warning next time!"_ Matthew shouted.

" _You didn't need it that time,"_ Tanya replied, quickly jumping off from her perch point, turning around, swiftly firing another arrow off, and striking a Wolkein through the chest. Straight through and through, as it slumped to the ground.

Kyle kept his fists close to his body, the forearm braced knuckle dusters latching onto his arms, as he looked around at the Wolkeins surrounding him. He threw punches at any Wolkein that dare draw close to him. The punches landed hard, possibly deforming their faces further, if they did not collapse, a larger dent forming in their faces.

Grabbing one of the Wolkeins' face as it came close, and drove his knee upward, dragging the head down quickly. Driving the knee into the lower jaw of the creature, the sound of a sickening crack echoing through its body as Kyle let go.

" _That's nasty!"_ Kyle said grimly, before looking to the side and sharply ducked, a black dagger barely dodging his smooth black helmet.

Natalie ducked and rolled out of the way, trying to put distance between herself and the Wolkeins. She turned on the spot upon landing on her feet again, spinning the daggers in her hands, grabbing the handles once the blade was facing down.

She ducked as one tried striking at her head, driving her own dagger into its side, twisting the dagger, as the other dagger struck the neck of the Wolkein. As this Wolkein screeched, Natalie quickly withdrew both daggers, throwing one at another Wolkeins' head, sending it staggering forward a few steps before falling over.

Running past the fallen Wolkein, grabbing her dagger back as she ran past, and jumped kicked another one. With the strength enhanced by the power of her gem, the Wolkein was sent flying back, throwing through a glass panel of one of the buildings.

" _Shit,"_ Natalie muttered under her breath as the glass shattered, and the screams could be heard.

The screams caught the attention of the other Rangers and Wolkeins, the latter reacting more to the sounds of the humans.

The Warriors noticed this too late, and were unable to stop the hoard running towards the shattered panel. _"Guys! After them!"_ Isaac ordered, as he ran towards the shattered panel.

The others quickly followed, their specialist weapons in hand, as they ran towards and through the gap in the side of the building. The five filtered into the building, looking around.

Turns out, they had broken through the screen panels of a bank. This being the ground floor, it was mostly empty space, save for seats for the customers. The main staff area was sealed off through protective glass screens. This being Pax Valley, there were a few decorative designs littered around the place. A few metal-molded wolf heads filled the top corners of the room, decorative designs painted onto the walls and roof.

It would be have been a nice design, if it weren't for the civilians scattering for escape as the Wolkeins attacked. The staff working the counter behind the protective glass, despite their protection, flinched as some Wolkeins tried to attack them, seemingly confused as to what the protective shield was protective these particular humans.

" _Natalie, Kyle, get the civilians and staff out if you can. Matthew and Tanya, let's take the Wolkeins out,"_ Isaac ordered, quickly sweeping his eyes across the area and assessing the situation.

The Blue and Yellow Rangers nodded, and quickly ran off, Matthew breaking off to kick down the staff-only door, and Tanya moved to areas she could see civilians.

Kyle and Natalie quickly followed after Isaac, the three of them running at the Wolkeins. Though they tried to be quiet, they were sure that at least some of the civilians were injured from the Wolkeins. Red blood was splattered across the perfectly smooth floor, but not enough that looked like a dangerous amount.

Grabbing one Wolkein by the shoulder, Isaac used his strength to fling the foot solider across the room; flying across the large room, colliding with the smooth wall of the bank floor. A dent was left in the wall once the Wolkein came to rest on the floor, unmoving.

The Wolkeins returned their attention to the Warriors, and attacked; splitting off to take on all three, and due to the masses, there was more than enough to go around for each Warrior.

As the other three fended off the Wolkeins, bodies starting to fall to the ground, Natalie and Kyle filtered through the behind the counter, looking for the staff that were stationed behind the counters.

Finally coming across a couple of bankers, ducked behind the counter and quivering in their shoes, looked up to the source of the door slamming open.

" _Come with us. We're gonna get you out of here,"_ Natalie said, quickly moving to one of the employees and guided them to their feet, moving them towards the exit; Kyle briefly looking through the glass screen, seeing the fight between the rest of the group and Wolkeins on the other side.

" _Kyle!"_ Shouted Natalie, catching the Black Delta's attention away from the fight on the other side. He quickly rushed to get the other staff member, guiding her to her feet and helping her towards the exit.

They were guided from the building, but they were jumped by a couple of Wolkeins, the staff shouting in panic.

" _I got this,"_ Kyle said quickly, speaking before Natalie had a chance to respond. He handed the other staff member, and he quickly activated the knuckle dusters. He quickly started throwing punches at the creatures, sending them staggering back as the punches kept flying.

Natalie, with a look of disbelief dancing across her hidden features, quickly shook her head and settled on just guiding the staff out of the building and to safety.

Punching one of the Wolkeins with such force that it was sent flying through another window, Kyle turned his attention to the other one. And that was when he noticed the Demon they had been alerted about.

Thick chains wrapped around its forearms and across his waist, along with ripped cloth around the chains from what must have been clothing at one stage in its life.

Large, curled horns protruded from the sides of its head, one of the tips broken off, judging from the weathering to the horn, it didn't happen recently.

" _Wow, ugly,"_ Kyle commented, throwing the other Wolkein across the bank floor, shattering a large picture that sat on the wall.

" _But I'm sure there are much worse where you're from,"_ Kyle commented, holding his fists out defensively.

The Demon looked at Kyle, an expression of what could pass for amusement in human terms.

"I will make this quick, I have my orders…" Said the Demon, flicking his wrists slightly; chains dropped from the ones circled around his wrists, grabbing a hold once a large portion had been unraveled.

" _Took the words right out of my mouth,"_ Kyle responded, clenching his fists quickly before running forward.

Cracking the chain as if it were a whip, the horned Demon swung the chain at the charging Black Warrior. Kyle quickly ducked to avoid the chain, but failed to notice the second chain whipping around him.

He shouted out as the chain wrapped around one of his forearms, and was flung across the room like he was a ragdoll. He slammed into one of the nearby walls, denting the wall and sending small chunks flying off from the rest.

He landed on the ground once again, but that lasted shortly; the chain tightening around his forearm once again, and flinging him to the opposite side of the floor. The chain came loose, sending Kyle flying further than the chains would have allowed.

Rolling across the floor, Kyle finally came to a rest at the site where Isaac, Matthew and Tanya were slaying the Wolkeins.

" _Kyle!"_ Tanya exclaimed, kicking one Wolkein back and using an energy bolt to stab another through the head, and looked over to the resting body of the Black Warrior.

" _I'm good,"_ Kyle replied, waving a hand dismissively as he pushed himself to his feet quickly, trying to move. He yelped when a thick chain wrapped around his neck, pulling tight.

Isaac and Matthew turned to look at Kyle at the teen's shout, and quickly finished off the remaining Wolkeins and quickly ran to the choking Warrior.

The horned Demon, one arm by its side while the other was extended forward for flicking the chain at the Black Warrior, pulled the chain tighter, the Black Delta Warrior trying to move back to accommodate for the tightness and try and loosen it.

"I expected more... you disappoint me," the Demon said softly, before a faint green glow came from his otherwise grey eyes. Loosening his hold on the chain ever so slightly, he gripped a portion further down and made a strong flicking motion.

The green energy flowed along the chain, in sync with the flick, and struck the chain around Kyle's throat. Beneath his visor, Kyle's eyes widened as green energy filled them, covering his body in a flash of green. He shouted out, his entire body shaking as the energy passed over him.

The horned Demon maintained the source of energy passing over the Black Warrior; right until the Yellow Warrior fired a number of bolts against his side. He snarled, his grip on the chain loosening entirely; unraveling from his arm, leaving it bare of metal.

He turned his attention to the other four Warriors, all facing the Demon.

Now that the chain had loosened around his throat, the green energy evaporated from Kyle's armor. His body went limp, dropping to his knees before he fell backwards, collapsing onto his back.

" _You're going to pay for that,"_ Tanya said, as if a growl was on the edge of her tone, as she drew her other hand back, a yellow bolt of energy forming in the space that was formed.

Isaac rushed at the Demon, Natalie and Matthew following him on either side as they attacked the Demon. Now only armed with one chain, the Demon fought back; flicking his single chain at the approaching Warriors. The three dodged and ducked to avoid the end of the chain, making movement towards the horned Demon. The closer and closer their got to the Demon, the more frantic their movements in avoidance.

They finally were within reach of the Demon, and Isaac moved to the left side, grabbing the arm of the Demon as it came in for a punch and restricting his movement.

The Demon snarled and tried to lash out at the Red Warrior, but he found his other arm was restricted as well. Matthew had grabbed the arm from behind, pulling it back to an almost breaking point.

His arms outstretched, forced apart by the two male Warriors, the horned Demon snarled and roared, trying to wrench himself free from the Warrior's grip. Drawing his attention away from the other Warriors.

Natalie quickly ran up and jump, driving her knee into the underside of the Demon's jaw, driving his head upward, making a growl of pain escaped him. Natalie quickly rolled into the air, grabbing onto the curved horns on the Demon's head. Her weight carrying the head backward, exposing the grey skin of his neck.

Before the Demon had a chance to attack the Warrior that dare pull at his horns, he became aware of the fact that there were only three Warriors holding him, holding him in place for the fourth Warrior.

He shouted out, just as Tanya aimed the energy bolt at the Demon's exposed throat. One eye closed, she released her hold on the arrow, firing it across the room. Cutting through the air like a fine knife, the arrow connected with the Demon's throat. Slicing straight through, vanishing before it made contact from Natalie, holding the Demon from behind.

His eyes widened, and a gargled shout escaped the Demon. The Warriors released the Demon as the arms flew to its throat. Trying to keep the wound close, but failing miserably to do so. Collapsing to his knees, his movements became more and more sluggish. He fell onto his front, green and black smoke starting to surround its body.

But the Warrior's attention was drawn away from the Demon seconds after he fell to his knees, they all rushed over to the body of Kyle, who had yet to move from the spot where he had slumped over.

" _Kyle! Kyle, come on_ ," Tanya exclaimed, crouching down onto one knee, shoving Kyle onto his front. She waved her hand in front of his visor, trying to elect a reaction from the limp body.

" _We need to get him back to the Den,"_ Isaac said, looking around the empty building. The Demon's body had completely vanished, with remnants of the black-and-green smoke evaporating into thin air.

Just as he said that, however, the ground beneath them suddenly shook, nearly knocking Tanya off her feet as a menacing growl vibrated throughout the city.

" _Looks like we can't,"_ Matthew commented, grabbing his spear from leaning against the wall.

" _You guys head back to the Den. I'll take this guy on,"_ Isaac said, adding, _"Summon your Zords and get going."_

Matthew nodded slightly, before he and Natalie slowly gathered Kyle to his feet, one arm going over either of the shoulders, his body still limp and head hanging forward.

Once they were all ready to go, the three summoned their Zords, Matthew activating Kyle's Howler to summon the Black Wolf Zord. Isaac summoned his own Zord, and said, _"Get going. Now. Find out what's wrong with him."_

Nodding, Matthew said, _"Savage, we need a teleport to the Den, now."_

Moments later, four of the teens vanished in a flash of their respective lights. Isaac remained standing in the bank. He turned around, about to head out of the front of the bank to get into his Zord.

But he was blocked when three police officers walked through the front doors, guns drawn. They all walked together, aiming their guns in all directions until they saw the Red Ranger. They all quickly aimed at Isaac, one shouting, "Freeze!"

Rolling his eyes, Isaac instead walked forward, drawing closer to the officers. They were standing in his way, after all.

"I said freeze!" The officer shouted again, both hands gripping their pistols, aimed solely on the approaching Red Ranger.

" _I don't have time for this,"_ Isaac said lowly, the voice coming out as a growl through his filter. He saw the officers flinch at his tone, and a small smirk crossed his lips.

He was now nearly level with the officers, and stopped momentarily when they refused to move.

" _It would be wise if you were to move,"_ Isaac advised, looking between the officers every few seconds. When they refused to move, Isaac's shoulders sagged and sighed, _"Fine... if you want it like that."_

He moved his arm, and instantly, one of the officers raised his pistols, pulling the trigger. Before the bullet had a chance to fire from the barrel, Isaac's hand grabbed the slide of the pistol. The bullet couldn't even leave the barrel, stopped by Isaac's armored palm. He then ripped his arm back, his fingers gripping the release mechanism of the pistol.

His hand pulled back entirely, the slide of the pistol gripped tightly in his hand. The officer looked at what remained of his pistol, a look of shock plastered to his face.

" _Want to try again? You've got two more tries,"_ Isaac said, tossing the slide off to the side. He looked between the other two officers. Reluctantly, the middle officer took a single step back and stepped to the side.

" _That's what I thought,"_ Isaac said mockingly, as he walked forward; seemingly bumping his shoulder into the officer to the right, and walked through the bank's front doors.

"When the hell are they going to do anything about them?" One of the officers grunted as another officer, the one who had lost half his gun, quickly moved to locate where the slide had been thrown.

"They can't act like they run the place. They need to be brought down a peg or two."

"There's a rumor going around that the President knows what's going on here," The other officer said, slowly holstering his pistol again. "Come on, witness statements need to be taken."

* * *

The four teens appeared in the white Command den, and Matthew and Natalie quickly carried him over to the table that rose from the ground. Savage and MUTT quickly approached, seeing the two carry the lifeless Kyle.

"What happened?" Savage asked, as Matthew and Natalie carefully lay Kyle down on the table, removing the clasps of his helmet and removing said helmet from over his head.

"He was jumped by this... horned, goat-legged Demon? With chains wrapped around his arms?" Tanya replied, removing her helmet before she spoke and rested it on a small space that Kyle wasn't occupying.

"Horns and chains? Hmm... sounds like Horror has released Diagnal," Savage muttered, as he stood at the head of the table, examining Kyle's face, and carefully lifting his eyelids to examine his pupils. When they seemed normal, he carefully twisted Kyle's head to rest on one side. Pressing two clawed fingers against his neck, he turned his focus back to the others when Natalie spoke.

"Dai… Dia… Dag… Whatever. Point is, can you tell us what the hell happened to him?" She said, gesturing to the unmoving Kyle.

"If we are talking about the same Demon, then no physical damage has been done to Kyle," Savage said, removing his hand from Kyle's neck and approaching one of the monitors. The scan lowered from the ceiling and began passing over Kyle's mostly morphed body.

"But...?" Matthew asked, feeling one was coming.

"But his vitals are falling steadily. He's been damaged on the spiritually level," Savage finished, as the scan finished and the scanner itself folded back into the ceiling of the room.

"How the hell can he be damaged spiritually?" Natalie asked, walking around the table slowly to look at Kyle's face. His expression unmoving from the neutral look that happened when the facial muscles relaxed.

"Since the Howler was connected to his blood stream, there have been... well, leaks, transferring energy from the Howler into the user. Kyle isn't the only one. All of you have, and are, suffering from leaks in your Howlers."

"What?!" Matthew exclaimed, as he and the others quickly brought their Howlers in front of them, examining them quickly.

"Is there anything that can be done to stop it?" Tanya asked, glaring bitterly at the wolf-man.

"I'm afraid not, it is the process of your abilities. The bloodlines between your generation and the Ancient Warriors, and the abilities of the Warriors are transferring into you," Savage said, before he decided they had side tracked far enough.

"Anyway, Kyle has been damaged on the spiritual level because of his connection with the Howler. Diagnal was able to figure out the source of the Ancient Warrior's power and was able to develop a spell that would sever the connection between user and Howler."

"If we hadn't of developed a technique, we would surely have lost the Warriors... long before their demise," Savage finished, completing the end of the sentence quickly like a bad taste he wanted to get over with.

"Luckily, however, my clan developed a method to heal them, in similar ways to how Healers dealt with injuries," he added, moving from a monitor to one of the hidden cryogenic freezers in the wall. "We called it Spirit Hunting."

"'Spirit Hunting?'" Natalie asked, raising an eyebrow slightly at the name.

"It's a technique Healers taught younglings and Healers-to-be to be used on both the Warriors and the others of the clan, should the situation ever arise," Savage replied, collecting several containers from the cryogenic freezer, along with a couple of vials of liquid.

"You're telling us that you were a Healer?" Matthew asked, walking over to one of the desks and looking over the cables and keyboard that lay over the desk in a mess.

"I am saying nothing like that," Savage said, a faint growl to his tone as he closed the freezer into the wall again, turning to face the humans again, a number of vials and containers in hand. "I have my reasons for knowing this," Savage added, moving towards the teens again.

"Hmm," Matthew muttered, raising an eyebrow slightly, but dismissed it as Savage set out the various liquids and powders on a counter beside where Kyle was rested.

"However, this technique requires two for it to work, not taking into account the one it's being used on," Savage further explained, unscrewing some of the vials.

"One acted as an anchor for the other, in case things get too... dangerous."

"Wait, what do you mean dangerous?" Tanya cut in.

"The subconscious is defensive over that which enters it. Another spirit is no different," Savage responded, before he looked between the teens.

"Which one of you is going to accompany me?"

"What?" the three asked in unison, looking between Savage and each other.

"I can't have MUTT accompany me. We are unsure if cybernetics are compatible with the human mind," Savage said, gesturing to the robot.

" _And I do not want to experience what the human mind has to offer,"_ MUTT responded. If it wasn't for his robotic tone, it would have passed for sarcasm.

With a faint roll of his eyes, Savage said, "One of you three must accompany me into Kyle's subconscious in order to unite him with his spirit fully."

Matthew and Natalie looked between themselves, before both their eyes turned to Tanya. Seeing the eyes baring down on her, Tanya looked to the others.

"What?" she asked.

"Well, you know Kyle better than any of us. It should be you," Natalie said, gesturing to the still limp body of Kyle, still lying there. Only this time, MUTT was at his side, a small scanner grasped in his hand and going over Kyle slowly. Picking up any little details the larger scan may have missed.

"But I have more experience fighting than you do. We're wasting time by just arguing. Meanwhile, Isaac's getting his ass kicked by what's-his-face," Tanya replied, gesturing to the exit for the Den.

" _Matthew and Natalie are right,"_ MUTT said offhandedly, catching the teens' attention.

"What do you mean?" Tanya asked, raising an eyebrow.

" _I analyzed the exchanges between the three of you and Kyle,"_ MUTT responded, raising his head to look at Tanya when she spoke.

"What?" she asked.

" _I accessed your mobile device in order to assess the exchanges. Matthew and Natalie have had less than one hundred exchanges between them with Kyle. Whereas you have over tens of thousands exchanges alone,"_ MUTT responded.

"Did you hack into my phone?" Tanya asked, her voice rising steadily.

" _I simply accessed it when you had left it on the side during one of your training sessions,"_ MUTT replied, turning back and walking around Kyle, placing the small scanner on the side.

Tanya opened her mouth to respond, but Savage raised his large hand. "We'll discuss this after Kyle has woken up."

"Fine, I'll help," Tanya grunted, drumming her fingers against her side.

"Good," Savage responded, before a small beep came from a monitor. Before he could move, MUTT quickly moved to the monitor.

" _Isaac?"_ MUTT asked.

" _MUTT! Kyle alright yet? This guy's harder than I thought,"_ Isaac's voice came over the comms, along with his vaguely heavy breathing.

" _We're sending Matthew and Natalie to help you shortly. Just hold on until they arrive,"_ MUTT replied, looking aside to check that Matthew and Natalie were ready. They both nodded, moving to the places where they had placed their helmets.

" _No really, take your time. I've got all the time in the world,"_ Isaac's voice replied, sarcasm dripping from his tone.

The comms were then cut, and MUTT turned around to look at the teens. Matthew and Natalie had placed their helmets back on, making sure they were locked into place.

" _We're wasting time. Let's get going,"_ Matthew said, lightly punching one fist into the palm of the other.

MUTT tapped the command into one of the computers, and a bright light encased the two teens. Even after becoming accustomed to the sight, Tanya still raised her hand to block her eyes from the light.

Once the light had vanished, indicating that the others had teleported to the ensuing Megazord battle, Tanya lowered her hand again. Once confirming that the teens had teleported from their previous spot, she turned back to look at Savage.

"Alright then," she asked, slowly pushing one of her hands into her pocket. "Tell me what we need to do."

* * *

Isaac was thrown across the cockpit of the Megazord, as the Megazord itself was thrown to the ground, large areas of trees crushed beneath the massive weight of the metal wolves like toothpicks.

During the fight, Isaac had managed to guide the fight away from the city and into the small areas of forest just outside the city's borders, but Diagnal had been pretty brutal throughout the fight.

Large dents in the metal panels of the multiple Zords could be seen, some so deep it looked as though the metal panels would break if they were struck another time. Isaac heard multiple growls echoing through his head, expressing pain throughout the different parts of the Megazord. And the pain seemed to be echoing through Isaac's own body.

Groaning under his breath, Isaac grit his teeth tightly as he pushed himself to his feet, moving back to the center of the cockpit.

" _You're pissing me off now,"_ He grunted, holding one of his upper arms momentarily before pulling his other hand away, standing straight.

The horned Demon slowly walked closer, lengths of chain extending from the arms. Dragging along the ground, leaving large grooves in the ground, uprooting trees and sending them scattered across the forest floor.

"You're a fighter, I admit that…but I like toying with my prey," Diagnal said, smirking slightly; revealing crooked teeth, with one or two seemingly absent from the jaw.

Flicking one wrist, he launched the chain into the air; whipping at the Megazord.

Isaac quickly moved the Megazord to the side, the chain barely missing the Megazord's torso and shooting right past it. Summoning his model of the Wolf Tail Blade, Isaac waited for the quick sequence of the Megazord getting the actual version of the black sword in its hands.

He was about to move, when he was aware of the presence of a bright light either side of him. He looked to his sides, and once the light vanished, saw two figures of blue and white.

" _How's Kyle?"_ Isaac asked.

" _Savage is working on it. He's got Tanya to help him,"_ Matthew replied, his own version of the Wolf Tail Blade forming in his hand, flicking the blade around a few times.

" _In the meantime, we've gotta take care of this horned bastard,"_ Natalie said, looking to Isaac as she took a hold of her own sword. _"You okay?"_

" _Few cuts, starting to get a pain in my right shoulder from getting thrown about by this guy. Still, could be worse,"_ Isaac responded, before he looked at the Demon, pulling his chain back for another attack.

" _Let's kill this fucker."_

* * *

"Uh... what is that stuff?" Tanya asked, as she saw Savage prepare themselves for the ceremony.

Shallow bowls were spread out across a cleared work desk, which had been moved to beside Kyle. All were filled with various liquids, some were clear, while others had a few powders sprinkled into the liquid. Despite being thoroughly mixed in, the powders were still very prominent in the liquids.

"It is a mixture, created by our Healers, to help loosen the mind's hold on their spirit," Savage replied, grabbing another small vial and added a few drops of the clear liquid to a partially filled bowl, before grabbing a small spoon and carefully stirring the liquids together.

"And we're going to have to drink that?" Tanya asked. She was pretty sure they gave classes on not accepting strange drinks from strangers, though she wasn't sure if Savage classified as a stranger or not.

"No, it's for him," Savage said, gesturing to the still morphed Black Delta Ranger.

Kyle was still resting on the table he had been placed onto initially, though it had been moved to the center of the room. Two chairs had been placed on one side and at the head of Kyle.

"MUTT, needle," Savage called.

" _Yes sir,"_ MUTT said, moving away from one of the computers and going through the draws underneath the desks.

"So... where did you find him?" Tanya asked lowly, gesturing to MUTT with her thumb.

Savage glanced at the spot Tanya was gesturing to, before turning his eyes back to the thoroughly mixed drink.

"I found him here. A living being must have... activated him when I arrived," Savage said, placing the bowl to one side. "He's been active here since I took this place as my home."

MUTT quickly returned from his search, handing the syringe to Savage. The wolf took the syringe, and carefully placed the end of the syringe into the liquid, and began drawing the liquid into the tube.

Tanya glanced at MUTT as he turned to leave. She could have sworn she saw him look back at her through the black visor across the head piece. But it didn't last long enough for her to check as he was walking away before Savage had the tube of the syringe filled.

"Grab those two bowls," Savage said, gesturing to two other bowls located next to the ones he took. Tanya grabbed the two bowls and quickly followed Savage around to Kyle's side.

"These for him as well?" Tanya asked, raising both bowls slightly, as if gesturing to them.

"Nope," Savage responded, turning Kyle's head slowly to the side, exposing the side of his neck. He carefully slid the needle into Kyle's skin. "They're for us," he added, as he injected the liquid into Kyle's bloodstream.

Tanya's eyes shifted to the bowls, somewhat unsure. "I'm not drinking this shit," She muttered.

"If you wish to save your friend, you will need to drink that," Savage responded, withdrawing the syringe from the skin and setting it to one side. Kyle groaned lowly in his unconscious state, his head slowly rolling to the other side as the foreign liquid coursed through his body. Savage then grabbed one of the small bowls and said, "Take the other bowl and take a seat."

He moved away to one of the chairs, and he waited for Tanya to grab her own bowl. "I swear to God, if this kills me, you're gonna regret it," Tanya muttered, before she moved over to the other bowl and picked it up carefully. Swirling the liquid around the bowl slowly, she walked around to the other chair.

Tilting his head back, Savage tipped the bowl against his muzzle, swallowing the liquid slowly. Seeing no other option, Tanya slowly did the same.

And she immediately felt a burning sensation light up her throat. She almost coughed the liquid back up from the burning feeling coursing down her throat and into her stomach.

"Fuck! I've had vodka that didn't burn as bad as this!" Tanya exclaimed, dropping the nearly empty bowl to the ground.

"I tried to make reductions to it. Tt was designed for my people, after all," Savage responded, setting his bowl to the side and slowly returned his hands to rest in his lap.

Tanya, still coughing slightly, resting one hand in her lap while the other curled in front of her mouth, trying to clear her throat. That was when she felt a light headed feeling overcome her, her hand lowered to her lap to join the other as she groaned lightly.

"Relax, your mind is trying to clear itself. Once cleared, we may proceed..." she heard Savage's voice say, beginning to grow muffled towards the end of his sentence.

Feeling her eyes grow heavy, the sensation over took her before she had a chance of fighting it. She felt... scared; something she hadn't felt this for a while. Just the helplessness of the situation was something she never experienced before, and it was scary.

Before she knew it, her eyes were closed and her body slumped.

* * *

Inhaling sharply, Tanya jerked her eyes open.

She snapped her head up, looking around rapidly, though her vision swirled and she had to close her eyes tightly again until her surroundings stopped spinning. Bringing her hands to her head, she slowly opened her eyes and took her surroundings in. Truth be told, she was expecting her surroundings to be the walls of the Den.

However, her surroundings were slightly different; the walls around her were still white, but they seemed... ghostly. The walls seemed to be flowing, like an ocean of white. When she looked lower, she had to double check what she was seeing.

Several individual desks, five by five, one of which she was occupying. Quickly getting up, she looked around. The desks were void of anyone, save for the one she had recently stepped up from.

"What the hell?" Tanya muttered under her breath, flexing her hands slowly before resting them at her sides.

"Good, you made it."

She turned around sharply, raising her hands instinctively, into closed fists. She relaxed only slightly when she saw it was Savage who stood at the head of the 'room'. The first thing she noticed, however, were the dark red markings on the one arm standing out, like they did when Savage used his abilities to heal Isaac's burns.

"You going to explain this?" Tanya asked, gesturing to the surroundings; looking around slightly, but in the end, returning to look at Savage.

Simply looking back at the irritated female, Savage slowly slipped his large clawed hands into his trench-coat pockets, as he responded, "Every persons' subconscious has a form it takes, a different portrayal of their inner mind. Some Healers said they saw forests and Dens."

"Alright, Mystic Mike," Tanya muttered, before she cleared her throat slightly and said, "So, what you're saying is that this," She gestured to their surroundings, "is what Kyle's subconscious takes? A classroom? One that looks like the one we shared when we went to school?"

"In a nutshell, yes," Savage said, looking around briefly before he turned back around, asking, "That's a phrase you humans use, isn't it? 'In a nutshell'?"

Unable to stop a roll of her eyes, Tanya paired it with a faint chuckle, and responded, "Yes, we say that."

Nodding once, the neutral expression remained on Savage's face as he said, "Good. Now, we're wasting time. We need to get moving."

"Why, have we got a timer?" Tanya asked, naturally walking around the desk she found herself sitting at, and headed along the gap between the desks, reaching the front of the 'class'.

"We only have a limited amount of time before the drugs lose their effect and we are forced out of Kyle's mind," Savage responded, walking towards the door of the 'class'. He reached the door and turned it, opening the door for the class.

Tanya quickly followed after him, sparing the room one last glance. It seemed surreal to think that Kyle thought of this, the classroom that he and her shared while they were in high school together, was what form Kyle's subconscious had taken.

"And there's another reason why we have to hurry," Savage added, as they walked out of the room.

Tanya opened her mouth to responded, but she found herself fall silent when they walked into the 'corridor'. Only to be further surprised when she saw what made up the 'corridor'.

Or rather, what was supposed to be a corridor. The walls were the same, ghostly sea of white, but they seemed to be even more opaque than the ones in the 'classroom'. They seemed almost non-existent.

The only thing that hinted towards there being any sort of wall were the numerous doors that lined either side of where Tanya and Savage stood. While the same color as the 'walls', they looked more solid, as if they were actually real.

"What are all of these?" Tanya asked instead, gesturing to the doors lining either side of them.

Savage shrugged his shoulders slightly, shaking his head a little before he responded, "Suppressed memories? Hidden pasts? It varies from person to person."

"Suppressed memories? Kyle?" Tanya asked, raising an eyebrow slightly.

"The Healers told us many things about what they saw during their Spirit Hunts. And one thing that was unanimous with all of their visits were one thing. They saw similar things such as these doors, and they all represented memories their minds would rather forget."

"I'm pretty sure Kyle would have told me about anything like that. We've known each other since we were in kindergarten," Tanya said, slowly folding her arms in front of her chest as she side glanced at Savage.

Savage returned the side glance, before he said, "Alright. Allow me to prove something to you. How even close friends, like what you and Kyle claim to be, will tend to keep some secrets to themselves."

Once he finished, he turned to one side and walked towards one of the closest doors. One of his hands removed itself from its pocket, and grabbed the door handle firmly. Turning the handle sharply, he pushed the door open a fraction.

The moment the door opened, a loud crying came from inside; because the door was only opened so much, Tanya couldn't see what was inside. All she could hear was crying.

A child's cry.

And, among those cries, if Tanya strained her hearing, she could hear another sound. Another cry. Only... Wait...

"I... Is that his mother?" Tanya whispered to herself, leaning forward slightly to try and get a look at what was in the room. But all that she could see was darkness.

"He never talks about his mother..."

Just then, Tanya could hear another tone. A different voice. Male. Though it was faint, what she could hear wasn't pleasant.

The woman's crying intensified, combined with her own teary shouts and the male's angered voice.

"Shit..." Was all Tanya could say.

"Like I said..." Savage said, slowly closing the door again. The crying, shouting and screaming cutting of entirely when the door snapped shut.

"Even friends keep their secrets."

All Tanya could do was nod, her eyes unintentionally drawing to the many other doors that lined the sides, her mind beginning to wonder. What else was going on in here that Kyle hadn't shared with her? What else was in here that she didn't know about?

"Come on," Savage said, nudging Tanya's arm as he turned to continue walking onward. Only to pause when he noticed Tanya wasn't following. "We need to use this time to find Kyle's Wolf spirit."

Reluctantly, Tanya tore herself away from the door and slowly walked after Savage. The two walked in silence among Kyle's subconscious for a few steps, before Savage decided to break the silence again.

"The subconscious records everything that happens to us, even if all of the senses haven't developed, they store it. He probably doesn't even remember anything that happened through the door. He probably doesn't even remember anything like it. He..."

"Just shut up," Tanya muttered quietly, but loud enough for Savage to hear.

Surprisingly, this promptly silenced the wolf-man and the two walked in silence, passing two more doors on either side.

"Anything we're looking for that could give away where his spirit is?" Tanya eventually asked as they passed three more doors. The doors seemed to go on continuously, going off into the distance of her vision.

"Diagnal cannot extinguish a being's spirit entirely. If he had that kind of power, Horror would surely have taken that power for his own," Savage responded, somewhat thankful for the break. Why he was thankful, he wasn't sure.

"So...?" Tanya pressed.

"There's a spark. A small part of a spirit that hasn't been extinguished during the initial attack. But given time that too will be extinguished. And if that goes... that person is gone for good."

"And where would be fine this spark?" Tanya asked.

"Usually it is protected by the essence of Diagnal. Surrounding it, waiting for the moment in which the person's spirit dies."

Tanya wanted to continue badgering questions until she got herself a clear answer, she noticed something. From underneath one of the doors, sickly green smoke starting to pour out. As if a fire was happening behind the door, producing a toxic green cloud.

"Is something like that a hint?" She asked, gesturing to the door.

Savage turned to the door Tanya gestured to, and he visible tensed. Tanya could see the subtle muscle twitches beneath his thick fur.

"Exactly," Savage muttered softly, quietly gesturing for Tanya to follow him as he moved towards the door. Tanya followed closely, though made sure to keep a suitable distance between herself and Savage.

He carefully rested his paw on the door handle, before pausing to look at Tanya. "I pull open the door, you have a look. Assess the situation and tell me what's happening."

Tanya slowly nodded, moving around Savage slowly so she was on the other side of the door. Giving another confirming nod, Savage slowly opened the door a crack. Not much, but enough for Tanya to get a quick peak.

After a few seconds, Tanya pulled her head back, gesturing for Savage to close the door.

"Well?" he asked the instant he closed the door.

"There are these weird smoky, green creatures. The kind of green you expect to see from a catheter bag," Tanya replied, before seeing one of Savage's eyebrow raise itself. "Never mind. It looks like death," Tanya simplified.

"Then this is the room where they're keeping Kyle's wolf spirit," Savage said, his eyebrow returning to his rightful place as he moved in front of the door. "On three, we charge in. Leave the creatures to me. Try and find Kyle's spirit," Savage instructed, as his paw returned to rest on the handle.

"Just like that?" Tanya asked, bemused by the bluntness coming from the wolf creature.

His only response was a silent nod. Rolling her eyes, Tanya just nodded back.

The two stared at the door for a few seconds, before Savage turned the handle sharply and yanked the door back with such force that, if it was in the real world, Tanya would have thought that it would have ripped from its hinges.

The two of them quickly rushed in, and they both got a good look at the situation.

Many creatures filled the 'room'. All the same; sickly-green, humanoid shaped smoke columns. The lower part of their 'bodies' didn't even touch the ground. They simply stayed floating, the odd hiss and unearthly breaths escaping them.

At the door slamming open, their 'heads' turned in unison, facing the two creatures that stood in the doorway, unprepared for something like this to happen. Still, their programmed reflexes activated and they all moved towards the intruders, unholy whispers escaping them as they closed in on their new prey.

"Go!" Savage shouted, raising his closed paws, tightly wound fists, as he moved into the room, drawing the attention of the entities.

Tanya quickly rushed to the side, side stepping the many ghostly-creatures that filled the room. Despite the cold feeling that overcame her the further she went into the room, she tried to focus her mind on finding the spirit.

"Alright... wolf spirit... wolf spirit..." She muttered under her breath, looking around for something that looked…something like what she was looking for. "Wolf spirit…gonna try looking for a Wolf…" She told herself, carefully moving around the creatures as they focused in on Savage. She tried to catch a glimpse of what was going on, but because of the density of the many creatures, she couldn't get a clear look.

Figuring she should just focus on trying to find the Wolf spirit, Tanya pushed herself deeper into the 'room', trying to figure out what kind of memory Kyle was suppressing for the creatures to hide his Spirit in.

The further she entered the memory, however, she began to notice things. The sound of crushing leafs reached her ears, and she looked down to find herself on a leaf covered forest floor.

Lifting her eyes from the ground, she took a step back to take in the surprise change of scenery as her surroundings went from blurry, to a crystal clear forest. The trees were bare of any leafs, presumably all on the ground she stood on.

The feel of a faint wind caught her attention, her short hair whipping slightly at her face. Flicking the strands out of her eyes, the next thing she caught onto was a smell.

A coppery smell.

"Blood," She whispered to herself, slowly taking steps forward.

More leafs crushed beneath her feet, Tanya tried to locate the source of the blood smell; why the smell was so pronounced and easy to find, either her smell was acute in these memories, or a _lot_ of blood had been split.

She followed the smell of blood for as long as she could, before it became so strong that she was sure she was going to throw up.

Finally, she came across the source.

And at the sight, she was _curtain_ she was going to throw up. "God..." she whispered to herself, having to avert her eyes from what she saw.

At the base of a tree, surrounded on a pool of its own blood, was a wolf; pretty young looking, probably not even fully grown. Its dark grey fur was caked in its own dried blood, large patches making it seem like a massive fox from how much blood was covering its body.

Its throat was clean cut, fresh blood still oozing out of the deep cut, covering the ground around and beneath the fallen wolf. The face was lifeless, eyes half open and cold, as its tongue tip hung out of its partly opened jaw.

"That Yellowstone Hunter..." Tanya said to herself, trying to avoid looking anywhere but the dead body. The news report Kyle had shared with her almost two years ago still stuck in her own mind all this time.

She never thought it effected Kyle this much to have it suppressed, like that other memory...

A faint hissing behind her brought her back to her senses, and quickly whipped around. One of the sickly-green ghost entities had broken off from attacking Savage, whom seemed to be dealing just fine with the entities, and come to attack her.

She tried throwing punches at the entity, but she found her fists seemed to simply pass through the entity. The sickly green mist disconnected in the spaces of her punches, before it reformed as one again.

"How the fuck do you fight these, Savage?" Tanya muttered under her breath, taking a small step back.

Despite her attempts to distance herself from the creature, it took one step forward for every step she took forward.

She backed up to the point where she was pressed against the side of the tree, hands slowly grasping the bark, trying to find a part that she could rip off and try throwing that.

A whimper caught her attention; a strange noise to be heard from the surroundings, but it caught Tanya's attention in an instant.

She side glanced to the body of the dead wolf, which seemed to be the source of the whimper. It was at this point that she noticed a faint black glow radiating from the side of the wolf. It was faint against the pelt, but it was there.

"Black Ranger, Black Warrior, Black Spirit..." Tanya whispered to herself, turning herself back to the creature, making out no facial features. Or any features at all. Just a blank fog in the vague shape of a humanoid.

"So that's what you're protecting..." Tanya whispered, raising her voice slightly as she spoke to the fog. Not that she thought it could understand her. "Now... How can I get mine to work?" Tanya asked herself, looking aside at her hands, bringing them back from the rough bark, glancing down at her palms.

She tried closing her eyes, clenching her fists, anything that she thought would work. But nothing came to be. And that just pissed her off.

"For fuck's sake!" she exclaimed, slamming her fists against the bark.

At the flash of anger rocking through her system, she felt pissed off and... something else. She lifted her hands up again, ignoring the faint scuff marks that had formed from the roughness of the bark, but there was something else she hadn't seen before.

Hanging around her hands like seaweed through water, yellow energy wrapped around her fingers and hands. She turned them over, finding the same was on the other side. The energy strands waved through the air, following her movements, before she turned her gaze up to the entity.

"Alright, fucker, try this," She said with a dark smirk, before thrusting both her palms forward.

The yellow energy came flowing forward, striking through the entity, and a distant wail came from the creature as the yellow energy passed through it. This time, the two halves didn't join back together.

Instead, they were reduced to nothing more than thin puffs, evaporating into the air.

"Shit, that actually worked…" Tanya said to herself, surprise evident in her quiet voice.

Once it had successfully reduced the entity to nothing, the yellow energy balled together and slowly lowered to the leaf covered surface. It slowly warped and morphed, trying to take a shape. After a few seconds of trying, it succeeded.

Tanya let out a long, low whistle of surprise as the yellow energy took the form of another wolf, a faint yellow outline, filled with a mixture of continuously flowing yellow energy and patches of solid yellow areas. Even its eyes seemed to be two orbs of flowing yellow energy, as it stared at the teenager.

"Uh..." Tanya tried to think what to say, or do. It's not like this happened enough for people to give classes on how to deal with it.

But the creature broke eye contact first, as it slowly moved away from in front of Tanya and around the tree. Tanya followed the spirit wolf with her eyes, as it finally came to a stop at the side of the downed, black spirit wolf.

The yellow spirit slowly paced along the side of the other wolf, lowering its muzzle slowly. Nudging the neck of its fallen comrade, small wisps of yellow energy transferring from the standing wolf to the fallen one.

The yellow energy slowly connected with the fallen wolf's body, traveling along its side. Drawing closer to the small spark of black at the center of its cold body.

Tanya watched in amazement as the energy connected with the black spark, brightening it momentarily. Once the yellow vanished, the black energy started to branch off from the small spark, following the arches that the yellow energy previously went along.

The black energy expanded along the body, reaching each limb of the body, covering the paws and pelt in a mixture of swirling black energy and patches of solid black energy.

The blood that coated the pelt slowly faded, revealing the dark grey and black pelt that lay underneath. The pelt changed again when the waves of black energy passed over those spots, turning the pelt into the patches of solid black energy.

Upon reaching the eyes, they shot open, revealing pools of black energy; swirls of transparent energy among the black orbs as the energy passed over the muzzle. By this point, the wounds around the throat were sealed shut and all blood evaporated.

The energy now fully flowing throughout the body of the wolf, the black spirit wolf pushed itself to its feet, a bit unsteady at first, but regaining balance quickly.

"So... you're good now, yeah?" Tanya asked, looking between the yellow spirit wolf that came from here, and the black spirit wolf. The two wolf spirits looked back at the human, the black spirit looking to the yellow spirit.

Nodding its head once, as if reassuring the black spirit wolf, the yellow wolf spirit turned its attention to the other figure in the memory.

Savage slowly approached Tanya and the two spirits, the red markings across his arm and neck standing out against the leafs and trees, all of the other warm colors that filled the memory.

"I see you figured it out yourself," Savage commented, looking to the yellow wolf spirit first, then to the black wolf. "Your Wolf Spirit restored Kyle's Wolf Spirit."

"What can I say?" Tanya asked, shrugging her shoulders nonchalantly, a smirk crossing her lips. Yet Savage's expression remained neutral.

"Come, we must leave. His Spirit will be able to re-activate his Howler from here and awaken Kyle, restoring both him and his powers," Savage instructed, as the yellow spirit slowly evaporated, the flow of energy swirling in the air.

As it filtered back into the crystal of the Howler on her wrist, Tanya looked over the device for a few seconds. "So, how do we get out of here?" She asked, turning her eyes back to Savage.

Savage simply let a small smirk cross his muzzle, as he slowly raised one of his paws. A single finger raised, a dull claw visible.

The paw flashed forward, cutting Tanya across the arm.

"Ah! Fucker!" She exclaimed, covering the small cut left on her upper arm. Though the second the pain flashed through her, her vision went blank and she was out.

* * *

"Fucker!" Tanya shouted, jerking her eyes open. Immediately after, she closed them at the brightness of her surroundings. Giving herself a few seconds to adjust, she gave it another try and opened her eyes yet again.

Now adjusted, she opened her eyes fully, finding herself in the Den. She let out a small sigh of relief, before looking across at where she expected Savage to be sitting. But no, he was already up and about, standing beside Kyle's body, looking him over slowly.

Carefully getting to her feet, Tanya walked over to the other side of Kyle. "Do you think it worked?" she asked.

"The Black Wolf Spirit will instinctively return to the Howler, activating both itself and Kyle again," Savage assured, as he kept his eyes rested on Kyle.

A few minutes went by and nothing happened, not a twitch of his features. Tanya was about to speak again when a low groan came from Kyle, along with a bit of head movement.

Seconds later, his eyes snapped opened and he inhaled sharply, his body reacting accordingly and tried to sit up. But he was held down by a firm paw gripping his shoulders.

"Kyle, calm down. You're okay," Savage said firmly, keeping Kyle's back against the table.

"W.. Wha.. What happened?" he asked, looking between Savage and, when he noticed her, Tanya. "All I remember is fighting that horned guy. Then it all went blank."

"You were damaged spiritually, but we have managed to fix it," Savage assured briefly, before slowly loosening his grip on Kyle's shoulder and stepped away.

"You fixed my spirit?" Kyle asked, confusion in his tone.

"Never mind that now. Can you fight?" Tanya asked, carefully wrapping her arm around Kyle's shoulder and helping him to sit up, swinging his legs over the table.

"And a hello to you too," Kyle replied, an edge of sarcasm to his voice. "But yeah, I'm good now."

" _Good. Because the others need you,"_ MUTT cut in, looking to the two humans. _"They've been fighting Diagnal for the past hour now."_

"Shit, that long?" Tanya asked, getting a strange look from Kyle as a response.

"Think you can finish him off?" Savage asked.

"Hell yeah," Kyle responded, getting to his feet. Tanya stood beside him, and glanced over at him.

"Ready?" she asked.

"As I'll ever be," Kyle responded, crossing the Howler over his chest.

"United, we Howl!" they both called in unison, their respective colors enveloping them. Once the light had vanished, the two stood in their respective armored forms, the wolf-esque helmets reflecting small patches of light.

MUTT tapped the command into the computer, and the two were teleported to the Megazord.

* * *

" _Why won't this fucker die?!"_ Matthew shouted as he pushed himself to his feet, looking a bit battered from being thrown about.

The other two remained silent, they too looking a little worse for wear as they got back into fighting stances in the cockpit of the Megazord. Diagnal sitting in the direct center of the visor, which had a faint crack running down the left eye.

They were briefly distracted, however, when two columns of light filled the cockpit. Situating themselves in the gaps between Matthew, Natalie and Isaac, Tanya and Kyle stood.

" _Hey guys. Miss me?"_ Kyle asked, looking around at the others.

" _Yeah, like a hole in the head,"_ Matthew responded, though no malice slipped into his voice. _"Good to have you back, man."_

" _Formalities later. Right now we need to finish this ass-hat,"_ Isaac said, looking over his shoulder at the newcomers.

" _Alright; what have you tried?"_ Tanya asked.

" _Everything! The Wolf Blade does fuck-all, and we can't get passed the chains,"_ Natalie replied, looking to the Yellow and Black Warriors.

" _Maybe we can bring something that can help,"_ Tanya said, getting a look from all of the others. Kyle included.

" _Can we?"_ Kyle asked.

" _Yes,"_ Tanya confirmed, raising her Howler-mounted hand. It took a few seconds for the others to notice, but there were traces of yellow energy wrapped around her wrist and fingers.

" _The hell is that?"_ Matthew asked.

" _Savage called it Residue Spirit Energy,"_ Tanya said, adding, _"Look, I'll explain later. But right now, this might work."_

They were brought back to the battle when the Megazord was struck by another attack, sending the five of them staggering slightly.

" _Alright. Try it Tanya,"_ Isaac instructed.

Tanya nodded, before she raised the residue-covered hand, screwing it into a fist. The yellow energy started to grow in concentration, covering her entire hand and upper forearm.

" _Try this one of for size,"_ Tanya muttered, before moved her hand forward; the energy passing through the darkness of the cockpit. Fading into the darkness in front of them.

From the outside, Diagnal dragged his chains, wrapping them around his forearms.

"I've wasted enough time with you..." He growled, before he loosened his hold on both chains and swung them up for a strike.

He failed to notice a streak of yellow energy passing across the torso of the Megazord, centering on the left leg of the Megazord. The Yellow Gamma Wolf Zord's eyes flashed up momentarily, a low growl escaping the foot of the Megazord.

" _Now, we're in business,"_ Tanya said, before she shifted in her stance, the Megazord following suite, the Yellow Wolf Zord the leading leg.

The Demon swung one of his chains forward, aiming for the Megazord's head. But its left arm crossed its torso, the chain wrapping around fully. When he tried to pull the chain back, he found the chain was firmly latched in place.

" _Gotcha,"_ Tanya said, before together, the five of them turned their arms. The Megazord copied their actions, turning around. This tightened the chain, pulling the Demon towards them.

Having completed a full turn, the Demon staggered towards the Megazord. Almost at the last second, Tanya willed the Megazord to raise its left knee. The others followed suite, reinforcing the Megazord's stance.

The Megazord's Yellow Wolf knee drove into the Demon's torso, shattering the ribs and spine of the Demon from the force, and any organs and arteries that the Demons had would have ruptured. Diagnal gagged, his grip loosening on the chain, before letting go entirely. His end of the chain rattled to the ground in a large clump of metal, as his hand fell limp to his side.

Mere seconds after the knee contact, the Megazord's right arm reared back and thrusted forward, driving itself into the jaw of the horned Demon, and knocking off the tip of the other horn in the process. The force of the punch sent the Demon flying back, landing on his back, the ground shaking momentarily.

Ripping the chain from its other forearm, the Megazord walked over to the Demon, standing over it momentarily.

" _See ya, motherfucker,"_ Matthew called, before the five of them raised the left foot. They moved forward before raising the foot, and brought the full weight of the Megazord, in the size of large skyscrapers' foundations, onto the head of the Demon.

They were met with initial resistance, but with a sickening crack, the pressure gave way and the Megazord's foot rested on the ground again. The crushed skull and horns of the Demon scattered both underneath and around its foot.

That only lasted momentarily though, as the parts of the Demon started to evaporate into the black-and-green mist the Warriors were so used to.

" _Alright, that guy has to be dead,"_ Natalie said, as the Megazord stood to its full height, in victory.

" _The point is, he's gone. He's-Wow, Isaac. You OK?"_ Kyle said, changing course mid-sentence when he noticed the Red Warrior.

The others looked to Isaac, who was swaying slightly. He dropped to his knees all of a sudden, and started to fall back. He would have fallen back completely, if Matthew and Tanya not rushed forward and gently eased him down.

" _What's wrong with him?"_ Matthew asked, unclasping the latch of Isaac's helmet on his side. Tanya did the same on her side, and they removed his helmet. Isaac's expression was neutral, his eyes closed loosely; his breathing weak and slow.

" _Savage, something's wrong with Isaac,"_ Natalie said into the comms, she and Kyle kneeling down either side of Isaac.

" _He's suffering from exhaustion. It's too early in your training for any of you to handle more than your own Zord. And he had to use all Five at once before Matthew and Natalie eased the workload,"_ Savage replied.

" _We need to take him back to MUTT,"_ Tanya said, about to contact MUTT for a teleport back to the Den.

" _You can't,"_ Savage's voice came over the comms once again.

" _Why not?!"_ Tanya shouted.

" _Because MUTT has run out of supplies for humans. You need to take him to one of your places of healing,"_ Savage instructed.

" _How the hell are we going to explain this?"_ Matthew asked.

" _We're smart. We'll think of something,"_ Kyle assured.

" _You and your optimism. Something I'll never miss,"_ Matthew grunted.

* * *

"Sir, I beg you to consider my suggestion."

"Mayor Delaware, I see what you're saying, but I'm not sure how the people are going to take it."

"Sir, with all due respect, they have been the cause of over a dozen deaths since they made themselves known. And even today, three more deaths. One of them was a solider."

The man exhaled through his nose slowly, rubbing the underside of his chin.

"I'm sorry to hear. I... I'll consider your proposal," He said, leaning forward in his chair slightly, resting his suit-covered forearms on the smooth wooden desk.

"Thank you sir," Said the other man, a thin man in his late-40s, wearing a light grey suit and a pair of thin glasses resting on his nose.

He slowly got up from the dark brown chair, and another man approached him. He wore a black suit and tie, white shirt underneath. An ear piece was visible in his right ear, connected to a wire that went into one of his jackets pockets.

"This way," He said quietly, guiding the man out of the room.

Mayor Delaware followed, and just as they reached the door to leave, he paused and turned around. "The Power Rangers are destroying my city, Mr. President. I hope you make the right decision."

With that, Delaware was escorted out of the Oval Office. Leaving the President and another pair of the Secret Service. Harrison exhaled slowly, leaning back in his chair as he went through the entire conversation in his mind.

"Damn Power Rangers..." He said to himself, closing his eyes momentarily.

* * *

 **Here you guys go; Episode 4 - Spirit Hunting. Hope you enjoyed it.**

 **As always, please R &R.**

 **-Nf991**


	6. Episode 5 - Intervention

**Sorry this chapter took longer than usual to post; got stumped when trying to write some parts.**

 **But anyway, here you are :) Please R &R.**

 **-Nf991**

* * *

Episode 5 - Intervention

The first thing he hear was a faint buzzing sound, coming somewhere behind his ears, in the depths of his brain. Like a scratch in the center of your back that you just couldn't reach. He groaned lowly, trying to turn his head slightly, only for the pain to spike, as if someone was trying to drive blunt spikes into each of his temples.

 **"Hey, he's moving..."** came a voice from the buzzing, though the words echoed on the back of his skull, making it seem like his skull was too tight.

He tries to open his eyes a fraction, but immediately closes them again when the blinding light hits him. He tries to pull one of his arms up to block the light, but found his left arm couldn't cover his eyes. Not bothering to wonder what the problem was, he simply raised his other arm, blocking the light from his vision.

He groaned lowly, slowly opening his eyes a crack, letting them become adjusted to the brightness before moving his forearm again.

While his tolerance to the light may have adjusted, his vision on shapes was a little off. A couple of shapes hovered over him, blurred out of focus so they just seemed like blank shapes.

 **"Isaac.. you okay?"** Came a muffled voice, still no gender-specific tone standing out.

Was Isaac his name? Well, they wouldn't be asking if they were talking to him.

If they actually _were_ talking to him.

He tried to speak, but found his voice was absent his throat was dry. He coughed softly a few times, trying to get his throat and mouth wet again.

"Uh... where am I?" he asked slowly, trying to prop himself up onto his elbows. Though he quickly lowered himself down onto his back again when the world started to spin.

The blurred shapes started to come into focus, and Isaac finally saw they were Tanya and Matthew - Matthew's blonde hair giving him away, and Tanya's dark yellow undershirt stood out against the rest of the black clothes she wore.

"Pax Valley's Hospital," Tanya answered, straightening herself from leaning over Isaac's bed as she walked over to one of the chairs against the wall of the room.

"Hospital? W... Why am I in a hospital?" Isaac asked, trying again to lift himself onto his elbows. Thankfully, this time, his vision didn't start spinning again. He looked over to his left side, finding he was hooked up to a drip and a heartbeat monitor, which kept a steady pace since he woke up.

"You don't remember?" Matthew asked, stepping back to grab one of the other seats and dragged it over to the side of the bed. "We finishing fighting that Demon, you know, the one with the horns? Well, when we finished, you just dropped. You were out of it."

"Savage said it had something to do with you controlling the Megazord by yourself for a prolonged period," Tanya finished, sitting back in her own chair.

"Wait.. why aren't we back in the Den?" was Isaac's next question, looking to the right, looking to Tanya.

Tanya shrugged slightly, responding, "MUTT said that he didn't have any more medical supplies for humans. Makes me wonder how he's going to get more supplies."

Isaac opened his mouth to ask yet another question, but he fell silent when the door opened; the other two looked to the door as well. Though they relaxed when they saw it was just Kyle and Natalie.

"Look whose returned to the land of the living," Kyle commented with a slight smile, moving over to Isaac's bed. "Good to see you up, man. You feeling good?"

"Feel like shit," Isaac responded dryly, shimming up slightly, adjusting the pillow behind him so it wouldn't put his back out.

"Well, we weren't going to say anything," Natalie said, earning a chuckle from Kyle, while Isaac just rolled his eyes.

Though Isaac noticed that Natalie's face didn't break into a smirk. "Something up, Nat?" He asked. The others turned to look at Natalie, who looked back at the others in turn.

"We're in deep shit," Natalie said, pulling out her phone from her pocket.

"I'm pretty sure you're exaggerating," Kyle responded, turning to look at the White Ranger.

Natalie just remained silent, unlocking her phone and flipping it around so they others could see. While the text was small to read, to the point where Matthew had to walk around the bed to see the article properly, they all got a good look.

"' _Power Rangers – Heroes or Vigilantes'_?" Matthew read aloud, glancing up from the phone screen.

"Those news guys have it out for us," Tanya commented, carefully taking the phone from Natalie's hand and looking it over closely herself. Her lips mouthed the words as she read them, her eyes darting across the screen, as she followed the lines. "This is bullshit," Tanya grunted, handing the phone back to Natalie, shaking her head slightly.

Before another word could be utter by anyone in the room, there was a knock at the room. Five pairs of eyes zoned in on the door, as the handle turned open.

* * *

"Any status update on Isaac?" Savage asked, pacing back and forth across the width of the Command Den, glancing at the robot standing at one of the monitors.

" _Tanya was supposed to update us when Isaac woke up,"_ MUTT responded, glancing over his shoulder before returning his 'gaze' back to the monitor. Savage nodded slightly, before returning to his pacing. " _You're not growing concerned with their wellbeing, are you?"_ MUTT asked, still facing the monitor he was working on.

A low growl came from Savage, as he turned to face MUTT. "They are one of a very, very limited number of options we have. So, yes; I am concerned with their wellbeing."

MUTT was quiet for a second, before he slowly stopped typing and turned around fully to face Savage.

" _How long are you going to keep your secrets from them, Savage?"_ MUTT questioned, side glancing at the monitor he was working at, before he subtly gestured to a spot beside the monitor.

Savage didn't even need to look where MUTT's hand was gesturing to; his eyes hardened on the visor of MUTT's head.

"They will be told when the situation arises," Savage responded bluntly, a low growl on the edge of his voice, as he untucked his paws from his pockets and briskly approached MUTT. He only came to a stop when he was a few mere feet from the robot, showing the difference in height between the two. Savage standing a clear head and a half taller than the robot.

" _And if it doesn't?"_ MUTT asked, raising his head slightly to keep Savage's subtly changing expression in his vision.

"Then they don't need to find out," Savage growled, before turning on the spot and quickly walked away. His trench coat striking MUTT's chassis, though doing nothing to move the robot.

" _They are human, Savage,"_ MUTT called, as Savage vanished down one of the corridors connecting the main Center to the rest of the rooms in the Den. " _Nothing stays hidden from them for long."_

A door panel slid close, locking Savage inside the room he had walked into. He sighed quietly, clenching and unclenching his fists slowly as he walked further into the darkened room he had entered, vanishing into the darkness.

* * *

"Right, Mr. Bryant," the doctor, a dark skinned woman with matching brown eyes, said as she carefully removed the drip from under Isaac's skin. "We can discharge you as soon as your parent comes to pick you up.

Isaac looked up slightly. "What?"

"Your mom; one of your friends called her to come pick you up," The doctor replied, briefly looking up from her clipboard to answer.

"Right... but I can stay around the hospital, can't I?" Isaac asked. A slight nod was his response, as the doctor had focused her gaze solely on her clipboard.

Isaac slowly walked out the room, pushing open the door upon reaching it and looking down both sides of the corridor.

Surprisingly, the clinically white corridor was absent, the only noises coming from inside sealed rooms, and doctors passing up and down, between the different doors.

He wasn't sure where the others went. Tanya said she had to make a 'call', though he figured what she meant. Matthew and Natalie, accompanied by Kyle, had went looking for a vending machine when the doctor had come in; they hadn't eaten anything since the previous morning. Isaac himself felt his stomach growl lowly at the absence of food.

He fished itself his back pocket, feeling a few loose coins clattering against each other. "Vending machine..." He said to himself, turning to his right and walked down the corridor.

His footsteps echoed down the corridor, glancing at every corridor he crossed, checking for both a phone and a vending machine.

After at least five minutes walking around the unfamiliar grounds, he found himself in a waiting room. A number of people were sat in chairs, nursing some pre-treated injures. The usual suspects; arms in slings, some people just looking ill, etc.

His eyes landing on a vending machine across the waiting room, Isaac briskly made his way across, walking around the rows of fixed chairs.

Standing in front of the vending machine, his eyes flickered across the many different chocolate options for sale. "Jesus, don't they have any Twirls?" Isaac asked himself, not seeing the specified Cadbury's protect in any of the slots.

As he continued to ponder on what to have, the small television in the top corner of the waiting room was switched to another channel, before being turned up.

" _Up next, the Power Rangers Wolf Pack; Wolves by nature? We ask members of the public what they think of the newest group of Power Rangers in their town,"_ Said the male news reporter, with a blurred picture of the five wolf Rangers fighting a number of Wolkeins.

Isaac turned to look at the screen just as the picture filled the screen, with the tagline _'Power Rangers – Help us or Hurt us?'_ underneath.

"We can't be that bad," Isaac uttered under his breath, as he pushed a couple of coins into the machine and punched in the code for one of the bars that didn't have any nuts in it.

With a mechanical grind and a dull _clunk_ from the bottom of the machine, Isaac crouched down and reached in, grabbing the bar.

' _Good to see the Rangers are getting away with their actions.'_

The sudden voice caught Isaac's attention as he stood up straight again. He didn't have that feeling of someone close to him, and a quick glance over his shoulder confirmed this.

He slowly turned, walking away from the machine and taking one of the free seats by the vender, leaning back in his seat.

' _Hey, they've stopped those freaks.'_

There goes another voice, a different male's voice. Isaac slowly looked around, he was pretty sure he wasn't going insane. Then again, he'd probably think that if he _was_ insane.

' _Yeah, at the cost of OUR tax money.'_

The voices seemed to be coming somewhere...

His eyes drifted over the entirety of his vision, before he focused on two people that fit the bill.

Two of the receptionists, both free at the moment, talking to each other. Yet Isaac had a feeling that they were too far away for others to hear from his distance. But when they spoke, Isaac heard them clear as day, now that he knew they were the ones talking.

' _You make it sound like they're the first to do this. You've seen Angel Grove; that place got fucked,'_ Said one of the receptionists, leaning back in his chair, twiddling a pen in his fingers.

' _At least they_ tried _to be careful when they fought,'_ Replied the other receptionist, his back straight and his finger working away at the keyboard. The constant _tap, tap, tapping_ of the keyboard echoed in the back of Isaac's head, threatening to cause another headache.

He shook his head slightly, turning his attention to the chocolate bar that he was subconsciously moving from hand to hand. He gripped the top of the bar, and began tearing the wrapper off.

The sudden, extremely loud rustling foil followed the moment he tried unwrapping. He grunted quietly in pain, one hand flying from the bar to one side of his head, rubbing the temple.

"Savage better have an explanation for this," Isaac muttered, shaking his head slightly as he got to his feet. He needed to find the others.

He quickly made his way out of the waiting room again, heading down the corridor he had come down from. Thankfully, the corridor was just as barren as the time he had walked down it. Once he was sure that he was in a quiet enough space, he raised the Howler and pressed one of the buttons.

"Guys?" he uttered into his Howler. "Where are you?"

" _Isaac? We're to the back of the hospital. Look for the X-Ray section,"_ came Tanya's voice on the other end. _"Matthew and Kyle have gone off somewhere."_

"Those two, wandering off together? God help any who cross them," Isaac added dryly, earning a faint chuckle from Tanya on the other end.

Ending the conversation, Isaac quickly looked around for signs. The X-Ray sign stood out as the green sign, with the same green line on the floor. He quickly headed in the direction specified, taking a bite out of the chocolate bar as he walked.

"Ugh, peanuts," He groaned, throwing the rest of the bar in a trash can as he passed.

* * *

" _The Power Rangers of Pax Valley, becoming known to the world as the Wolf Pack as of a few weeks ago, have cause massive amounts of damage throughout the city. The costs of the damages are thought to be in the tens of millions, and the death toll, unfortunately, appear to be in the hundreds, nearing the thousands."_

The portal suddenly snapped close, cutting off the news reporter it was focused on.

"Do you mind?" Batibat snapped, turning to face the approaching Fear.

"You waste your time on these.. humans?" Fear asked, gesturing to the stand where the portal had been snapped from.

"They may not be the Warriors of the Wolf, but from what I've seen, these humans are the messengers are this modern world," Batibat said, snapping her fingers and the portal opened up again, the same screen of the humans' news report reforming.

"And you believe they are worth our time?" Fear asked, shaking his head slightly, bringing his hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose. "I thought we didn't have any more hallucinogenic herbs..."

"There is an interesting development with the humans," Batibat shot out, gesturing to the portal, which showed the report still, except on mute. "They seem to be turning on their protectors."

Fear waved a hand dismissively, but he paused when Batibat's words processed. "Turning against the Warriors?" He asked for conformation.

Batibat nodded briskly, gesturing to the screen as she continued. "Perhaps we can use this to our advantage."

"And, pray tell, how do you intend on using this," Fear gestured to the portal, "To our advantage?"

"I'm not too sure yet, but I'm working on something," Batibat responded, before turning around to face the portal again.

"In the meantime, I would like us to find out more about these latest Warriors - how they fight, how they deal with situations, and so on," Fear said, snapping his fingers again and shifting the portal's view from the Human news report, and showing a strange, large building.

"I figured we would strike the humans when they are weak - this.. place of healing used by the humans, so they'll be weak and unable to fight. And if the Warriors turn up... well, they'll be in for a surprise."

"And what surprise would that be?" Batibat asked, slowly folding her arms over her breasts, before she saw the subtle smirk crossing Fear's pale, stone-like grey features.

" _You_ are going into the Human Realm?" she asked.

"I believe it's about time that the Humans were made aware of the powerful beings that the Master mentored," Fear replied ominously, unfolding his arms from behind his back again, and snapping his fingers once more. A short distance away, a large portal ripped open, black and green wisps of smoke evaporating from the edges.

"You are going in by yourself?" Batibat questioned, walking with Fear for a few steps towards the portal.

Fear continued walking for a few paces further, not responding for a few seconds. By the time he had answered, Batibat had stopped a few paces back and was watching him with a questionable expression.

"I plan on using the weak humans to my advantage," Fear replied, again, ominously, as he glanced over his armored shoulder at the she-Demon.

Batibat's initial response was a single raised eyebrow, her head tilted to one side slightly, silently questioning what Fear meant by what he said.

Then, it hit her.

"The Wolkein Spores?" she questioned.

A single nod was her response.

"That's devious of you..." Batibat uttered under her breath, turning away slightly, and approached the viewing portal. One could faintly hear the jealous edge to her voice.

"That is why Horror made me his Left hand," Was Fear's response, before he returned to his walking and eventually vanished through the portal. Though just as the portal closed fully, a black spine flew through the remnants, lodging into the rocks on cavern, on the other side of the Realm.

"Swine..." Batibat hissed lowly, slowly turning another black, toothpick-sized spine in her fingers, rolling between her thumb and first finger briefly.

* * *

"There you guys are," Isaac said, having rounded a corner and almost run into Tanya coming the other way.

"I said outside X-Ray," Tanya responded, quickly taking a step back when she also ran into Isaac.

"There are two X-Ray signs," Isaac's deadpan tone retorted.

"Trust me, if we have any more situations like the one with Diagnal, you'll familiarize yourself with this place." Tanya stuffed her hands into her trouser pockets, causing the short sleeves of her top to roll up slightly. It was at that point Isaac noticed a slice of red standing out against the light grey top she wore.

"Hey, what happened there?" Isaac asked, gesturing to the arm.

Tanya glanced at the arm, before her eyes widened a little bit and she quickly removed the other hand to cover the blood stained area. Isaac heard a soft "Shit" get muttered under her breath.

"What happened there?" Isaac repeated, though his tone was a little more urgent, but not pressing, after seeing the alarm in her eyes.

Sighing a little, Tanya responded, "Back when I was helping Savage get Kyle back, what the whole Spirit World, or Realm, whatever. Point is, we needed to get out. Savage…decided the best way was to cut me on the Spirit Realm."

"And... that's where he cut you? In the Spirit Realm?" Isaac asked, gesturing to the cut for the third time.

Tanya nodded in conformation.

"Jesus..." Isaac said lowly, slowly sliding his hands into his back pockets. "That's some Matrix shit, right there."

"What worries me is what else could happen in there," Tanya responded, just as lowly, before grabbing the end of the sleeve and rolled it down slightly, trying to cover the slight cut.

"It can't be that bad in there." Isaac replied.

"Trust me. The shit that was in Kyle's mind..." Tanya ended up going quiet, coughing softly.

"I can't have been worse with that Demon in him," Isaac responded, releasing a soft chuckle, hoping to relieve some of the tension in the area.

But Tanya wasn't smiling. She rolled her eyes briefly, before she said, "I need to get my jacket. I'll be right back." With that, she turned and quickly walked down the corridor again, turning a corner and vanishing out of sight.

Isaac's shoulders sagged slightly at the quick departure, leaning against one of the walls that Tanya had left him at.

"Women..." Isaac muttered, rolling his eyes slightly.

"Well, someone shat in your cereal," Said a voice to the side of Isaac.

He looked to the other side to find Matthew and Kyle walking down the corridor towards him. And one thing that Isaac noticed early on was the chocolate bar Kyle was happily taking bites out of.

"How can you eat that shit?" Isaac questioned, gesturing to the Black Warrior.

"Hey, it's good," Kyle responded, looking mock-offended. Like Isaac had spat at his mother, or something that bad.

Dismissing the discussion, Isaac quickly shifted gear. "Look, there's something I need to ask you guys," He said, lowering his voice slightly.

"That you're gay?" Matthew responded flatly. Isaac glared, as Matthew smirked slightly.

"Fuck you," Isaac responded at the childish response. He shook his head, before continuing, "Look, the doctor who let me out said my mum was coming to pick me up. The only way she would have known I was here, would be if someone contacted her."

"So, who went through my phone?" Isaac asked, looking between the other two male teens.

Kyle paused mid-bite, and as Matthew kept up his smirk, he slowly finished the bite and began chewing on the chocolate-nut combination.

"MUTT did it," Matthew responded nonchalantly, his hands resting comfortably in his pockets. "We said it'd look odd if we didn't contact someone for you. So, he got into your phone, grabbed your mom's number and gave it to us to give to the Doctor. Nothing else."

"I swear, I'm going to attach a car battery to that fucker's nipples," Isaac muttered darkly.

"Uh, I don't think he _has_ nipples," Kyle responded, scrunching up the wrapper and stuffing it into his pockets.

"Never mind," Isaac dismissed, waving a hand briefly.

The three of them were brought out of their conversation by one of the lights towards the end of the corridor and around the corner, went out. Casting a bit of darkness in the otherwise light area.

"Looks like they need an electrician," Matthew commented. Though this was followed by several of the other lights slowly going out, moving down the corridor, and towards the three teens.

"Yeah.. electrician," Kyle added, though his voice was a little skeptical.

"You guys got that feeling?" Isaac asked, slowly moving forward, looking further down the corridor a bit. The lights continued to go out, though instead of the usual flicker before fading entirely, the later ones began to make the sound of shattered glass.

The latest one out-right shattered, light and cover and all, spreading glass and plastic all over the corridor.

"Shit!" Matthew exclaimed.

The sound from the now darkened corridor caught the attention of one of the doctors, it seemed, as one came from his office.

"What's going on out here?" He asked, removing his glasses and carefully placing them in his blazer breast pocket. He looked up and down the corridor, rubbing his lightly stubbed beard, as he spotted the teens.

"You three," He asked, gesturing to Isaac, Matthew and Kyle. "Did you see what happened here?"

Before any of the three had a chance to respond, a shadow of a figure slowly appeared behind the doctor. His details were a little hazy initially, but something they noticed was the faint shine for odd patches of bronze armor. A small orb of green was visible behind the doctor's head, as it slowly narrowed a little bit.

"What are you...!" The doctor started, before he was sharply cut off with a loud gag, his eyes widening. His glasses coming loose, and fell to the ground. One of the lenses coming out from its frame at the contact with the ground.

Blood soaked the white shirt he wore underneath the blazer, spreading out across what was visible.

"Shit!" Isaac exclaimed, as Matthew and Kyle quickly, by reflex, raised their Howler wrists up slightly.

The body fell limp to the floor, crumbling onto his front and remaining still, as blood started to soak the area around him.

Now the teens could see the figure in its entirety. Bronze armor across the torso, spikes on both the shoulder pads and, weirdly, the sides of his face. The skin itself was a pale grey, like concrete.

"You're a freaky fucker, aren't you?" Matthew commented, raising his hands defensively.

The being seemed amused by the comment, casual wiping the blood from his black-bladed sword on the blazer of the dead doctor, before sliding the blade over his shoulder, and into a sheath on his back.

"From the energy I'm getting from you humans, I believe I'm right in assuming you three are three of the Warriors," Fear commented, stepping over the doctor's body and taking a few steps towards the three teens.

And with every step forward the Demon took, the three tried to step back, though after four steps, they were flat against the wall.

"What wants to know?" Matthew responded hotly, before he looked to the others. "We going to fuck this guy up or not?"

Isaac nodded shortly, before he raised his Howler wrist, the others following suite.

"United, we Howl!" The three called, activating the Howler. A brief flash of light filled partially darkened corridor, before the Red, Blue and Black Wolf Rangers stood in their places. The three shifted into defensive stances, flexing their fingers into closed fists.

Fear's face bore only slight amusement, as he raised his hands either side of him, as if leaving himself open. "Try your best," he said, taunting the Warriors.

Matthew and Kyle both ran forward, passing Isaac and trying to land the first strikes on the Demon. The dimmed light of the corridor didn't affect their fighting, making like they were fighting in clear daylight.

But the many flying kicks and punches aimed at him did little to bother Fear. He simply raised his arms to block the incoming fists and high kicks, while he raised his shin occasionally to deflect the incoming lower kicks.

Fear grabbed one of the incoming fists from Matthew, earning a robotic shout of pain as the pressure enclosed around his hand. Fear then pulled back, dragging Matthew over his head and flung him backwards, punching with his other hand at Matthew's torso.

The force of the punch sent Matthew flying into the wall of the corridor, cracking the thin material. Several chunks littered the floor as Matthew came to a rest in the dent he created.

A punch to his torso caught his attention, though nowhere near enough to cause any sort of damage.

He looked around, seeing the Black Warrior was standing defensively, though he was shaking one of his hands slightly, muttering something inaudible under his breath. The modified voice made it impossible to be understood.

His hand thrusted forward, Fear's fingers gripped around Kyle's throat. The Black Warrior choked and his hands flew to Fear's forearm, throwing punches at the primarily armored covered arm. However, because of the armor, the punches, even with the enhancements provided by the gem, caused superficial damage. At best.

A sudden, forceful kick to his midsection brought his attention away from Kyle, whom he dropped and collapsed to the ground, as Fear turned to look at the Red Warrior.

" _That's enough,"_ He growled, the modified voice enhancing the tone of his voice, as he stepped back two steps and drew his sword, gripping the handle with two hands.

Fear stared at the Red Warrior, before a small smirk of amusement broke across his stone-like features. He raised his hand over his shoulder, grasping the handle of his sword again.

"I will make this quick," Fear said, drawing the sword from the sheath, flicking the blade around his hand before holding it correctly again.

The two sword-wielding warriors stayed as they were for a few seconds. Fear made the first move, stepping forward and slashing diagonally down. Isaac barely had time to stop the strike, the two swords colliding, sparks flying from the mythical weapon striking another. The force of the strike sent Isaac stumbling back, one hand flying to the wall for some support while the other tried to hold the sword out.

"Your mentor has failed to train you," Fear commented aloud, advancing towards Isaac and striking again, the blades connecting once again, and the force sending Isaac on his back, almost losing the grip on his sword handle.

He quickly rolled onto his front, pushing his hands and knees beneath him, raising his head to look at the armored Demon. _"He's working on it,"_ Isaac grunted, quickly regaining his footing and taking a slight step back, holding the sword out defensively.

"In the time of my Master, you were trained, or you died," Fear taunted, walking further down the corridor, towards the Red Warrior. Another strike soon followed, this one much stronger than the previous ones.

The force of the strike sent the sword flying out of Isaac's hands, flying across the corridor and embedding itself into the wall.

Isaac looked to the blade quickly, before turning his head back in time to get it connected with a fist thrown by the Demon. He shouted in pain, stumbling back and eventually hitting the back of the wall.

"Hm," Fear grunted, angling the blade downward, the tip of the sword barely above Isaac's visor. "I expected more from the Alpha. Your predecessor put up more of a fight when we first met."

Before the monologue could continue, Fear was tackled away from Isaac from the side. All he managed to catch from it was a flash of yellow against the bronze-and-black body of Fear.

" _Isaac!"_ Said a female voice, and he looked to the side to find Natalie, fully morphed, rushing towards Isaac. She quickly crouched down and helped him to his feet, taking note of one of the small cracks in the corner of Isaac's visor.

" _I'm fine. Check Matthew and Kyle,"_ Isaac grunted quietly, quickly gaining his footing and looking to his other side. Fear had kicked Tanya, who was also morphed, over himself. Flinging her further down the other corridor.

Unsurprisingly, the commotion had caught the attention of several doctors occupying the surrounding area. Some looked through the glass panels of their doors, phones against their ears.

Natalie quickly moved down the corridor, as Isaac quickly ripped his sword from the wall, taking a small chunk with it, and rushed over to assist Tanya. The Yellow Ranger was currently trying to block punches from the Demon, both her forearms together to block a punch aimed at her head.

Before another punch could land, Isaac quickly ran up behind the Demon, striking across the armored back. Sparks flew at the point where the sword and armored connected, and Fear staggered forward; stepping over Tanya in the process.

" _You OK?"_ Isaac asked, offering a hand down to help Tanya up. The Yellow Warrior looked up and took the offered hand, the two of them getting Tanya to her feet.

" _Who the hell is this guy?"_ Tanya asked, as she and Isaac tensed up when Fear turned back around. Glaring at the two Warriors before him, before a smirk started to play across his stone features, the spikes across his cheeks twitching slightly in accordance with his facial movements.

"I see…" Fear said to himself, before he straightened his posture and snapped his free hand. Two portals opened up either side of him, and instantly, hordes of Wolkeins came charging forward, aiming to attack the two Warriors directly in their way.

Tanya and Isaac quickly stepped back, giving themselves space as the Wolkeins charged at them. Isaac's sword was able to deflect most of the attacks, but Tanya was restricted with her bow. Unable to find the distance in the tightly-packed corridor, she simply held the bottom half of the bow and struck the foot soldiers' face.

As Matthew and Kyle recovered and, accompanied by Natalie, joined the others and helped bring the fight back to the larger corridor, Fear slowly sheathed his sword again.

He reached into a small pouch situated on the back of the thick belt, Fear walked in the opposite direction of the Warriors and Wolkeins.

Seeing the retreating form of the Demon, Isaac quickly struck one Wolkein across the throat, the head coming off from the body completely, falling to the floor. _"You guys got these freaks?"_ Isaac asked, looking over his shoulder, seeing the conflict throughout the area.

" _We got this!"_ Matthew shouted, stabbing a Wolkein through the chest, before swinging the spear around and stabbing another one, pinning the two against one of the walls.

" _And remember to keep any nosy fuckers out of the way!"_ Isaac called, building up to a run by the time he finished speaking, and quickly ran off after Fear.

" _How the hell do we get stuck here and he think he can take on that guy?"_ Tanya grunted, driving her foot into the side of a Wolkeins' leg, bending to an odd angle, before drove her elbow into the back of its neck, driving the head into her knee.

" _Everything knows the Red one goes off to fight solo,"_ Kyle called, punching one Wolkein with such force that it drove straight through one of the walls.

* * *

Isaac quickly ran down the corridor, nearly spiriting before coming to a corner, skidding slightly to stumble around the corner and running again, gaining his speed back. Fear always seemed to be at the other end of the current corridor with every turn he took.

" _Where the hell is he going?"_ Isaac asked himself, having passed yet another corner and growing frustrated by this point.

Doctors and nurses peaked through slightly open doors as a streak of red passed them. If more than one occupied the room, they looked at each other in question.

However, the further he followed after Fear, the more of the corridors that Isaac found similar. Granted, the bleach white walls all seemed to blend together over time, but some signs stood out.

" _Shit!"_ Isaac exclaimed, realizing where Fear was going, and quickly picked up speed again. _"Waiting room."_

A few short seconds later, the sounds of screams filled the corridor, pushing Isaac to move faster, making himself look more like a blur of red and black than before.

He skidded to a halt upon entering the waiting room, a stack of papers on the reception desk flying from the wind picked up by Isaac, scattering them across the waiting room floor.

The waiting room was bare of anybody - not a soul left. The doors were flung open, allowing a gentle breeze to enter the waiting room, leafs kicking across the waiting room. Though they got caught in large pools of a deep crimson liquid.

" _Shit…"_ Isaac said slowly, walking around cautiously. He hadn't seen any bodies yet, but that didn't mean they weren't here. The blood was coming from somewhere...

"They suffered a great deal, you know."

Isaac turned sharply at the voice, seeing the armored Demon standing in the entrance of the hallway, arms folded behind his back. His eyes were half opened, as if he was growing bored. Isaac's hands slowly closed into fists, his hands shaking slightly from the tension going through his body, specifically his arms.

" _You've killed them?"_ Isaac asked lowly, his voice coming out as a growl after passing through his voice modifier.

Fear responded with a single nod, the smug smirk crossing his features more.

Isaac felt a deep, burning anger rushing through his body, seemingly centering from the Howler clutched around his wrist. His arm with the Howler shook slightly from the tension running through it. His sword formed in his other hand, the fingers flexing slowly around the grip.

"Come now," Fear said, slowly walking around Isaac. The Red Warrior turned in time with Fear's movement. "You've already proven that you are ill-experienced in sword fighting. Nothing like your predecessor."

" _What do you know about him?"_ Isaac questioned, his modified voice dripping with anger.

Fear stopped mid-stride, turning to face Isaac fully, hands coming from behind him and resting at his sides. "You really are small-minded, aren't you humans?" Fear commented with an eye roll, spreading his stance slightly to gain a better footing.

Though before either of them could move a muscle, the front doors of the hospital were flung open. It was at this point that the sound of sirens reached Isaac's ears, causing him to look at the doors.

Instantly, SWAT officers swarmed the waiting room, all wearing black body armor with the word 'SWAT' printed on the front of the bulletproof vests they wore, and on the shoulder patches of their uniform. All wore balaclavas and open face helmets, looking down the sights of their standard issue M4 Carbine.

"Police! Do not move!" The lead officer shouted, both hands firmly holding the rifle in his hand, staring between the Red Ranger and the... thing standing before them in the hospital waiting room.

Isaac's expression was unreadable, due to his helmet covering his face, though it bore an expression crossed between shock and anger. Anger for dealing with the Demon before him, and shock from the sudden appearance of the SWAT. He hadn't expected them to turn up.

Meanwhile, Fear looked at the officers with faint amusement - his face had the 'really?' expression plastered across his concrete-colored expression.

"Oh, you humans…" Fear said, a faint chuckle escaping him as he looked between the humans, wearing their 'protective' armor and their weapons. "You think yourselves the dominant species of the planet…"

He slowly ran his free hand up the blade of the sword, the black steel reflecting the light from the glass doors and windows of the waiting room. The movement caught Isaac's eye, not that the Demon was trying to be subtle. Isaac slowly tightened and adjusted the grip he had on his sword handle, his eyes switching between the SWAT officers filling the waiting room entrance. He counted at least nine.

That was when he noticed a faint aura surrounding the individual officers, something he could smell. They blended together... and all he got from them was something... earthy.

 _Something to add to the list to ask Savage,_ Isaac thought to himself, before movement to his side caught his attention again. Fear had stepped forward.

"Freeze!" Shouted the lead officer, the sound of multiple guns cocking sounding simultaneously, all trained on Fear. Yet he continued to slowly stepped forward, one foot slowly moving in front of the other as he approached the line of officers.

That was when the bullets started flying.

Isaac couldn't help but flinch slightly when the bullets started flying, instinct driving him to take cover as the lethal bits of lead started firing. Despite his ability to withstand bullets, his natural reflex was to get the fuck down.

Fear just stood there, as the bullets continued to fly from their guns. Though as they continued to strike him, the bullets just deflected from his armored form. Mushrooming upon impact with his armor, and falling to his feet with faint clattering.

By the time the magazines ran out of ammo, they had made no damage whatsoever to their intended targets. Isaac slowly lifted himself from behind the waiting chair he had taken cover behind, which was covered in bullet holes. Several shots had hit Isaac, but no damage had been done. Meanwhile, Fear simply stood where he had stopped, taking the bullets. Mushroomed bullets littered around his feet, the tips as flat as a pancake.

Side glancing at each other, the SWAT team looked in bewilderment at the lack of effect of their bullets.

"Is it my turn now?" Fear asked, raising his hands slightly in question, before flicking his wrist and holding the sword properly again, lifting it up to strike down.

But Isaac quickly jumped over the row of chairs, running forward and tackling the Demon from the side, the swords falling out of both their hands.

" _Get any civilians out of here!"_ Isaac shouted as he quickly shifted up and tried throwing punches at Fear's face area. The Demon had his arms crossed over his face, deflecting most of the attacks. While one or two landed on his face, most of them were knocked off course with his forearms.

The SWAT looked at one another for a brief second, before the commanding officer quickly stepped in. "Units 14, 12 and 9. Take the left side! Units 13, 8 and 4, take the right! Units 7 and 5, with me!"

Now divided, the SWAT team split into their three groups, rushing around the two fighting warriors and splitting up into the corridors of the hospital.

* * *

The first and third SWAT groups went around the hospital, checking the corridors and rooms for any more hostiles hanging around, waiting for the right moment to attack. But all they found were medical staff and patients, scared out of their minds.

They vaguely and briefly explained what they were doing, before helping the staff get the immobile patients out of the room, giving them a secure path to get out of the back of the hospital.

The second group, however, came across something they were thought they were prepared for, but still surprised them and nearly made one of them misfire his rifle.

What they came across, in one of the wider corridors of the hospital, was a fight between the rest of the Power Rangers and the strange pale-grey, black armored creatures. Several of the latter's bodies littered the floor, slumped against walls with massive dents, and stab wounds through some. The Rangers continued to fight what remained standing, grunts and shouts of effort coming from the occasional Ranger.

The Yellow Ranger side glanced after snapping the neck of one of the creatures, before doing a double take to see the group of three SWAT officers standing at one end of the corridor.

" _Hey guys!"_ She called, shouting back to the others, who continued to fight. _"We've got company."_

The other Rangers quickly pushed away the Wolkeins they were currently fighting, the Black Ranger punching the Wolkein with such force it went flying through one of the thinner walls, as they all turned to look at what Tanya had shouted about.

Seeing the bold, capitalized 'SWAT' signs, they all tensed under their uniform. They only called the SWAT units into situations when shit had _really_ hit the fan.

"Check all the rooms in this corridor!" The head officer of the group ordered, gesturing for the other two SWAT officers to go either side of the corridor.

As they opened the doors, one by one, the third officer had his eyes focused on the three Rangers, who had finished off the last of the creatures, and were all slowly moving towards the single SWAT officer remaining.

"Stand down," The officer ordered, half raising his rifle to his shoulder, aiming in the general direction of the Rangers.

Two of the Rangers-White and Black-stayed where they stood, but the Yellow and Blue simply stopped momentarily, before taking the rest of the distance between themselves and the officer.

" _We're not 'standing down',"_ The Yellow Warrior stated. Despite the heavily modified voice, the SWAT team was slightly surprised to find the voice to be feminine. He would've expected it if the yellow one had a skirt as part of her uniform, like the White Ranger did.

"I'm ordering you," The SWAT officer stated, raising his rifle slightly.

The moment his rifle was raised, however, the Blue Ranger's hand latched onto the barrel of the M4 Carbine. No matter how hard he tried to rip it from his grip, the Blue Ranger had a grip of iron around the barrel.

" _I'd let go of that if I were you,"_ Tanya said, folding her arms over her chest, looking to the SWAT officer.

By this point, the other two SWAT officers had caught onto what was happening with their commanding officer, and slowly stepped away from their doors and raised their rifles against their shoulders.

Kyle quickly caught onto what was happening, side glancing behind him to see the approaching two officers, flexing his fingers around the bars of his knuckle-dusters.

The officer stared at the Yellow Ranger, still trying to rip his rifle from the Blue Ranger's grip. "You four are under arrest," He spat, looking up to glance at the other two officers.

The sound of guns cocking filled the corridor, but before Tanya had a chance to turn around at the noise, Kyle acted.

As one of the officers came around his left, the knuckle-duster on his right hand locked into place and he turned with the punch. With the brace releasing such force upon impact, the officer was sent flying back, taking the doors off its hinges as the body was flung into the empty office.

The other officer quickly aimed down the sight and fired a few shots; the teens all flinched at the bullet sound, the bullets pinging off Kyle's suit and dropping to the floor. Natalie rolled to dodge the bullets, and as Matthew's other hand quickly flew around the SWAT officers' throat, pressing him back against the wall, she drew one of her black and white bladed daggers.

She flicked the blade in her hand, gripping the blade and throwing it across the length of the corridor. The bade hit home, lodging itself in the SWAT officers' right leg, the blade embedded deep into the flesh. Acting as if the body armor it wore was just simple clothing.

As he shouted out in pain, Kyle quickly spun around, the other arm's knuckle-duster was prepared and when the punch was thrown, the officer was thrown back down the corridor, colliding with the wall at the other end.

Now that the two of them were dealt with, the other Rangers turned to the final SWAT officer, who was trying to pry Matthew's armored hand from around his throat.

" _Take this as a warning,"_ Tanya started, standing before the pinned officer, summoning her bow and pressing one end against the officer's chest. " _You can't take these guys on. Only we have weapons that can kill these things,"_ She added, pulling her bow back. Just as she was about to continue, her Howler lit up with a low growl.

Looking down, she quickly raised her Howler to her helmet and said, _"Yeah?"_

" _Need a little help here!"_ Isaac's modified voice came growling through the Howler, along with a sudden yell of panic.

" _We're on our way,"_ Tanya replied, before closing the comms and glaring up at the officer. " _Stay out of our way,"_ She finished, before looking over to Matthew and nodded slightly. Matthew glanced from Tanya to the officer, before releasing his grip on the officer's neck.

The officer quickly righted himself, crouching down to grab his weapon. Though by the time he had righted himself, he found the Rangers were gone. Not a sound was made when they moved.

"Damn Rangers…" He muttered under his breath, before quickly rushing over to the closer of the two officers, checking for their vitals.

* * *

Isaac was hurled through the windows of the hospitals sliding doors, the glass shattering into a million pieces as Isaac rolled across the ground outside the hospital. He eventually righted himself onto his hands and knees, and quickly pushed himself to his feet, looking around for Fear or his sword.

But the sword was no-where is sight, and Fear had stepped through the shattered sliding door. Any civilians outside the hospital instantly stopped what they were doing and those that were too close quickly moved away.

"You've got fire, I'll give you that," Fear said, sheathing his own sword once again as he approached Isaac. The latter taking a small step back, hands raised once again as he prepared for the fight to continue in public.

Fear continued the steady pace, and eventually drew close enough to throw a punch aimed directly at Isaac's face. He managed to block the attack, but wasn't quickly enough to block the second attack, which sent a punch into his gut.

Isaac grunted in pain, doubling over before Fear delivered an uppercut to his helmet, sending him flying backward, rolling across the ground a short distance before coming to a stop. Isaac was pretty sure he was bleeding in several places under his suit, but strangely, he didn't seem to feel anything.

Must've been a dulling effect of the Howler.

Either way, Isaac pushed himself to his feet, and ran at the Demon, throwing a flying punch at him. The blow connected, somewhat, by Fear's defenses colliding into himself from the source of Isaac's punch, sending him stumbling back a few steps. A few of the spines across the left cheek had the tips snapped off, but no other injuries were apparent.

" _Come on. You've got to have a weakness somewhere,"_ Isaac said to himself, raising his fists again and advancing again, throwing another punch at the Demon, followed by a high kick. Fear managed to push back the punches, but stepped back at the kick to the ribs. He staggered back a few steps, holding his side.

"Lucky shot…" He seethed, pulling his hand back from the injured area, and took his fighting stance, focused solely on Isaac. Meaning he didn't notice the running footsteps drawing closer to them.

" _Hey!"_ Was the shout that caught Fear, and Isaac's, attention.

Fear turned and was immediately struck with a yellow bolt of energy, the bolt sticking out of his armor, looking as though it was simply embedded in the armor. He glared at the four other Warriors that came from the entrance of the hospital. Tanya had her bow drawn, while the others stood with their weapons at the ready.

" _Still think you can take this guy by yourself?"_ Matthew asked, the spear resting against his shoulder as the four of them slowly stepped down the stairs leading to the hospital's entrance.

"This should be fun," Fear uttered, snapping the energy bolt from his armor, and vanishing from sight when it was further snapped in half.

Isaac didn't respond, simply preparing himself as the other Warriors moved around Fear, giving themselves enough distance from the Demon, but enough to contain him.

"All five of you against me? Maybe now this will be an acceptable fight," Fear said, looking around at the five Warriors that surrounded him. Tanya, who was to Isaac's left, side glanced at the Red Warrior and pulled something from behind her back.

" _Figured you'd drop this?"_ Tanya said, offering Isaac his sword, flicking the sword around so she was offering the grip of the sword to him. Isaac quickly took the sword in his hand, nodding in thanks to her before facing the Demon again.

Thankfully, other police cruisers had turned up, but they seemed to be focused on getting any civilians out of the way. The Rangers paid them no mind, however, as they all attacked Fear at once.

As Tanya hung back a little bit to fire bolts of energy at the Demon, Isaac, Matthew, Kyle and Natalie ran at Fear, weapons at the ready. Matthew, using his spear as a javelin, threw his spear at the Demon. But Fear simply swatted the spear aside, sending it clattering to the ground at his feet. But he quickly side stepped to avoid Matthew's punches, not seeing the Blue Warrior following up with his spear throw.

Blocking most of Matthew's attacks, Fear heard someone rushing at him from behind. Glancing over his shoulder, Fear quickly side stepped the latest attack from Matthew and blocked one of Kyle's punches with his forearm. Despite the forceful impact from the knuckle-duster launcher, Fear's arm barely moved an inch.

Kyle seemed surprised by the lack of effect, as he looked between the blocked forearm and Fear, before he quickly pulled away from Fear and went for another punch with his other arm, but Fear threw two punches of his own at Kyle's chest. A startled cry of pain, then panic, came from Kyle as Fear grabbed him by the throat, and threw him back, throwing through another panel of glass of the hospital's doors.

Isaac and Natalie ran at Fear, splitting up at the last moment to attack Fear on two fronts; but Fear seemed to be able to take the two of them on with ease. Blocking Isaac's sword with his armored forearms, able to deflect the attacks in other directions, while using his other arm to deflect Natalie's stabs, actually grabbing onto her forearm at one point and flinging her across the street.

As Natalie tumbled past her, probably picking up scratches and cuts from the asphalt, Tanya turned her glare back to Fear as he dealt with Isaac. She quickly dropped the bolt of energy, and ran at the Demon with her bow.

Fear felt a sudden weight on his back, and gagged slightly when a thick piece of metal was pressed against the base of his throat, pressure being applied from behind. Tanya had managed to loop her bow around Fear's throat, and managed to force him off of beating up Isaac.

His hands wrapping around the bow, Fear managed to fling Tanya over him, and grab onto her arms when she went sailing over him.

"Attack from behind?" Fear asked, as Tanya tried to squirm out of his grip. Isaac quickly got to his feet and tried to help, but the second he got to his feet, Fear threw Tanya at him. The two collided, and were sent flying back a few steps.

When they came to a stop, they quickly untangled themselves and Tanya said, _"Thanks for the soft landing."_

" _Yeah, yeah,"_ Isaac grunted, before the two looked up at Fear shouting out.

Being occupied with seeing Isaac and Tanya tumble, Fear didn't see or hear Natalie running up to him from behind and managed to find a spot, now covered in his armor, and stabbed one of her daggers into the pale-grey 'skin'.

However, the dagger didn't even penetrate the skin. It just chipped off a small amount of the stone-like skin, but nothing more.

Natalie cursed under her breath, before she looked up. She was immediately met with Fear's other foot to her face, sending her rolling back. When she eventually came to a rest, a small crack had formed in the bottom corner of her visor, and she felt a small patch of wet forming on her shoulder. Probably a very serious scratch.

Fear turned and began approaching Natalie, but paused when he heard a _"Hey!"_ shouted behind him. He turned, and was instantly met with a pair of firm punches to his face. Tanya and Isaac, working together, had ran towards Fear when his attention turned to Natalie.

As Fear stumbled back a few steps to recover from the attack, the five Warriors formed together. Though it was plain to see, by both Fear and any police officers still in the area, that some of them were favoring one side of their limps than the other.

"I've seen enough of this," Fear said to himself, though loud enough for the five teens to hear. He then drew his hands together, clasping one in the other, and closed his eyes.

Above the area of the city, high up in the sky, clouds started swirl into the air. The clouds turned from their usual white to a dark, storm-cloud grey and black, and lightning started to form in their place.

" _This can't be good,"_ Matthew said, looking from Fear to the swirling portal forming from the clouds and lightning. From this portal, a streak of black light escaped - the same light that appeared when Ret-Kli grew giant-sized.

The black streak struck the ground around Fear, forcing the Warriors further back as Fear began to grow. The larger he grew, the more of the surrounding area began to grow darker. The sky turned from day to night, and by the time he was fully grown, the sky looked as though it was midnight in the winter.

As people throughout the city looked around for what the cause of the sudden darkening sky, instilling panic throughout the city, Fear finally stood, fully grown, in the center of the city. Dwarfing all of the buildings around him easily.

" _Savage!"_ Isaac all but shouted into his Howler, looking up to the sky as lightning cracked across the clouds.

" _On it,"_ Savage's voice responded, with the faint sound of keyboard buttons tapping in the background, before the comms were cut short.

" _Let's do this,"_ Matthew said, as the five Wolf Zords came into the city, running at the newly-grown Fear. The five all jumped into their individual Zords, initiating the formation sequence of the Megazord immediately upon entering.

Nearly a full minute later, the fully formed Megazord stood across the city from Fear, the two facing each other, ready for battle.

"Let's see if you are any better in your Guardians," Fear said slowly, slowly drawing the sword from the sheath across his back, as he slowly stepped forward. Small vehicles becoming little more than crumpled, metal masses, as he slowly drew nearer to the Megazord.

" _Does this fucker ever stop gloating?"_ Tanya asked herself as the five willed the Megazord forward, summoning the Wolf Tail Blade into both their hands and the Megazord's hand, swinging it around a few times, getting acquainted to the sword again as they neared their latest conflict.

The two colossal beings collided, their swords striking in time with the latest lightning strike, the two obsidian-colored swords clashing and sparking upon contact, before drawing back. The Megazord moved in for another, lower strike, but Fear managed to block the strike easily, one hand placed at the back of the blade, adding support from the forceful strike.

The Megazord was then struck with a kick to its torso, stumbling back a few steps to recover. The teens were rocked about in the cockpit, trying to recover their footing.

" _Is this guy faster than most other guys we fought in the Megazord, or is it just me?"_ Natalie asked, quickly adjusting the grip on her sword, the Megazord mimicking her movements, and the others followed suite.

" _It doesn't matter. We'll find a way to kill him,"_ Isaac responded, leading the five of them in moving the Megazord together.

The two beings collided once again, swords striking one another in time with a second lightning strike. Only this time, the Megazord released one hand from the handle of the sword, and threw the punch at Fear's now exposed head.

The punch connected, striking Fear across the face, breaking more spines off of his cheeks, and sent the Demon staggered back a few steps. Angered by the punch, Fear glared at the Megazord.

"If that is how you want to do this," Fear said, resorting to sliding the sword back into place and, in a sudden burst of speed, ran at the Megazord. He jumped at the last second, letting out a war cry as he sent a flying knee strike at the Megazord's head and torso area, grabbing a hold of the Megazord's head at the last second to ensure that the strike connected.

The five Warriors were sent down on the ground, all writhing in the pain that coursed through them, experiencing the pain caused to the Wolf Zords.

Unable to recover quick enough, the Megazord was dealt with a series of punches from Fear, one arm pinned by one of Fear's, while the other began dealing strike, after strike to the torso and head. The strikes to head shook the Warriors further, as the crippling blows were being dealt.

"You insult the Warriors you succeed," Fear spat, throwing another punch at the Megazord's torso, a large number of deep dents embedded in the metal, and more sparks flew when the latest punch was thrown at it.

Inside the cockpit, the Warriors were trying to get to their feet, but were continuously knocked down again before they could get up by another strike. Their bodies twitched on the ground of the cockpit, trying to get up but ending up twitching violently as waves of pain rocked through them.

"At least they put up a better fight than you did," Fear added, stepping back slightly before delivering another kick to the weakened Megazord's torso. The force of the impact sent the Megazord stumbling back a few steps, before they grew still.

Seconds later, the mass of metal and spirit slowly fell back, falling onto the ground. The buildings beneath where it landed crumbling like children's toys, creating a great dust cloud that shook throughout the city. Areas of Pax Valley looked like a war zone from the fight.

As the dust slowly cleared, the Megazord came into view, lying in the rubble of the buildings, the torso deformed and dented from the sever beating it received. The eyes of the Megazord were both cracked, one had actually caved in on itself. The glass-like material lay scattered all over the cockpit, covering the Warriors that lay motionless on the ground.

All of the teens had some form of cuts covering their body from the ancient glass, actually breaking through the armor they wore, as they tried to recover. Isaac tried to push his hands under his body, large shards of glass falling from his body as he pushed his upper half up.

" _Savage…"_ He uttered lowly, trying to raise his Howler wrist, but failed as he became aware that a chunk of his visor had fallen out, the cracks further spreading across the visor. He looked around slowly, seeing the others were in about as good a shape as he was; Matthew had a large gash across his right arm, blood oozing out onto the blue, black and silver suit.

Tanya's visor was severely cracked, but was all in her helmet still, as she tried to push herself up from under a pile of glass. She had several cuts across her stomach and arms, pricks of blood visible.

Kyle was lying on his side, one arm curled tightly around his waist, and Isaac soon saw why; a large pool of blood was forming around his stomach, as he shuddered faintly.

Natalie seemed to be in the best shape of them, but that was by no means a good state - she had a large cut across her shoulder, her hand pressed firmly against the cut to try and keep the blood from flowing out.

"And now…"

Isaac quickly turned his gaze forward, seeing the monstrous figure of Fear standing over the crippled Megazord, sword in hand as it slowly spun it around so that the blade was facing downward.

"I finish what my Master should have done all those years ago," Fear finished, his other hand grabbing a hold of the handle, and raised the sword into the air above him.

Isaac tried to push himself to his feet, tried to get the Megazord to rise to its feet, or even raise a hand to grab a hold of the sword before it could strike them down. But his arms shook hard as he tried to focus, finding a strange feeling of exhaustion rush through him.

The wolves were exhausted - their wounds were great, something unexpected. And this feeling of strain was filling Isaac. He was sure the others were feeling the same, but didn't say anything. He had other things on his mind right now.

Raising his sword a bit higher, Fear smirked darkly as his fingers flexed around the grip, before he suddenly thrusted the sword downward. Isaac closed his eyes, teeth gritting, expecting a searing pain to burn through his very soul.

But it didn't come. No pain.

At first, Isaac thought that this was what death was. No pain, just... the end.

But when he opened his eyes again, he found that he was still where he was. Still in the crumpled Megazord, still blood oozing from cuts and scratches across his body, still staring up at the colossal Fear standing over them.

But Fear's sword was held in place, barely scratching the ornamental wolf head of the Red Alpha's Wolf form upon its chest. And it didn't seem Fear was taunting the further; the look of surprise across his stone features showed that he fully intended to kill them.

"No... No, not yet. I'm not done!" Fear hissed, his muscles straining to push the sword down further, but the harder he pushed the sword, the more noticeable a dark green aura surrounded the black blade. The green aura started to spread itself around Fear, covering his entire body. The sword was raised up from the Megazord's chest, and the aura began thicker.

"NOOOOOO!" Fear shouted, his voice roaring and distorted as the green aura began mixing with a sickly black, swallowing up Fear in its mass. Fear was briefly outlined by the light, but he quickly vanished as a result.

Mere seconds after Fear disappeared, the clouds began to part, the sky lighting up again. The sun returned to its rightful place, shining its rays on the ground below. But the damage was done. The Megazord's metal creaked and groaned as Isaac tried to move it, but failed to do so alone, in his state.

Grabbing the wrist of his Howler arm, he shakily raised his arm to his helmet, as he weakly said, _"Savage…W…Help…Tele-Teleport…"_ That was all he managed to get out before his hand collapsed to the ground, his body falling back on the ground. When his helmet collided on the ground again, another small chunk fell free in front of him, opening up the eyehole more.

His eyes slowly slid close, and unconsciousness took over...

* * *

"I had them right where I wanted them! They were weak, and they are not worth our time!" Fear shouted, advancing on Batibat the moment he stepped foot in their Realm once again.

He came to a stop only when he was mere inches from the she-Demon, having to glare down to accommodate for the height difference.

Batibat glared up at the taller, bulkier Demon, flexing her fingers around a pair of thin spines, half-tempted to strike Fear now that he was close enough. But she restrained herself; only glaring daggers at Fear, unfazed by his furious gaze.

Fear bore his grit teeth, two dirty white rows of canines, and stepped back to draw his sword.

" _ **Enough."**_

The deep, earthy growl rocked throughout the domain, stopping Fear in his tracks. The voice even caught Batibat, causing her to tense up as her head snapped to the side. The two War Lords quickly turned to face the source of the voice, dropping to one knee, and cast their gaze at the ground beside their feet.

"Master," The two said in unison, their voices much lower than they normal were.

" _ **The Warriors are MINE, Fear... Mine alone,"**_ the voice said, seemingly focused solely on the male Demon. Fear kept facing down, feeling like a presence of a looming figure stood over him.

"Master, the Warriors are not worth your time. This group ar..." Fear tried to throw his case in, but was swiftly cut off.

" _ **Silence,"**_ Was all the voice said, the tone firm and angered, flaring up momentarily, before the angered flame died down ever so slightly.

" _ **You have weakened them greatly, but only I will deliver the killing blow. I will punish the descendants of those who imprisoned me….But I must return to a physical form to do so…"**_

"Master, if I may speak," Batibat said quickly and quietly, barely lifting her gaze from the ground after she spoke.

A moment of silence followed her voice, before the voice growled, _**"Proceed, Batibat…"**_

"The humans of this time period are much different to the ones that excited during our time. They trust each other less and less - sometimes starting great wars because of the differences between what I've seen of their world, they are those who are turning against the Warriors," Batibat explained quickly, slowing her voice slightly so every word was clearly heard.

"I believe that we can use this to our advantage. The humans, while they are primitive and inferior to us, may prove to be at least some use." Moments of silence followed Batibat's explanation, and Fear briefly thought that the Master was thinking of a suitable punishment for Batibat at her suggestion of the humans.

" _ **Observe them, Batibat. Alert me of any changes,"**_ Said the voice after another few seconds of silence, causing both Fear's and Batibat's eyes to widen slightly, but the latter quickly nodded.

"Yes Master," She said quietly.

" _ **Now…I…I must rest…"**_ said the voice again, the pitch growing slower and a bit weaker, but it was hidden well.

"Yes Master," The two Demons said in unison, before the presence finally left, the two Demons raised their gaze, looking at the podium that held the caged crystal. Fear glared at the other Demon, who wore a smug look across her features as she got up.

"I have my duties to do," Batibat said, turning on the heel of her feet and walked off. Fear slowly rose to his feet as the she-Demon walked off. Cursing under his breath, Fear briskly speed walked away, into another one of the chambers connecting to the main one.

* * *

"Who the hell was that guy?" Matthew asked in a low groan, carefully supporting the now-stitched arm on one of the tables, his sleeve rolled up to allow MUTT to finish up the final stitch.

Cutting the thread, MUTT moved away and turned to begin working on Isaac; Tanya, Kyle and Natalie were already seen to. Tanya had her top off, but thankfully had a sports bra to keep her modest, with multiple stitches and bandages around the concentrated areas of the cuts.

Kyle had his arm seen to, with a large bag of ice resting across the aching area, and trying to null the pain by going through his phone. Natalie was the same, with the main cut across her shoulder had been stitched up, numb through the painkillers given to her.

As MUTT began working on pumping painkillers through Isaac's body before he would begin stitching one of large cut across his torso, surrounded by dry blood, Savage turned to look at the others.

"From what I saw, that Demon you almost got killed by was Fear, the other Hand of Horror with Batibat. A skilled warrior, and he clearly proved it from the damage done to both you five and the Wolf Zords," Savage explained, walking around where the teens were situated around the Den.

"And how long are we expecting to wait before those Zords can be used again?" Tanya asked, her words a bit slurred from the medication running through her to numb the pain.

" _With the resources I have, I should be able to repair them fully within four to five days,"_ MUTT replied, his voice speaking for him while he focused half of his runtime on closing Isaac's wound.

"We're going to..." Isaac grit his teeth as a spike of pain shot through him when MUTT tugged on a bit of skin near the open wound a bit too hard. "We're going to kill that fucker."

"You'll have to have some good fortune for that to happen," Savage said with a slight eye roll, arms folding behind his back. "Fear wasn't one of the Hands of Horror for no reason. Many of both our kinds fell by his blade."

"That's not the only problem we've got to deal with," Kyle said, a bit less energetic than normal from the drugs pumping through him. The others looked at the Black Delta, who tapped a portion of the screen and held the phone a bit further away.

"'President orders military-funded organization to deal with the issue of Pax Valley'?" Kyle read aloud, the other teens looking at him with wide eyes.

"What?" Matthew and Tanya asked in unison.

"Yep," Kyle confirmed, before shifting the page down.

"President Johnathan Harrison has ordered the creation of a military-funded group, being dubbed 'The 13th Division', which will be transferring selected individuals from the military to Pax Valley, following recent events in regards to the latest group of Power Rangers, the Wolf Pack. More to follow'."

"This isn't going to end well," Matthew groaned lowly, his body slouching down against the table, head resting against the cold material.

" _I believe that's putting it lightly,"_ MUTT said dryly, pulling the wound close and snapping the thread off, finished with Isaac's wounds. Isaac slowly got to his feet and grabbed his shirt. He was halfway putting it on when a sudden thought came to him.

He fumbled with his shirt and reached into his pocket, almost dropping his phone to get it out quickly. He turned away from the others as he selected Contacts, and held the phone to his ear as it started to ring.

"I'll be right back," He said briefly to the others, carefully making his way towards one of the doors connecting one chamber to the other, the door sliding close after him. The others looked at him, before Tanya's eyes widened as well.

"Shit... His mom," She said, causing the other teens' eyes to widen.

They had forgotten they had called Isaac's mom to come get him from the hospital.


	7. Episode 6 - The Rogue Ones

**Here you are guys, Episode 6. Sorry this one took a _lot_ longer to post than the others. I'll try and be more consistent in the future.**

 **As always, props to my Beta for editing my work :)**

 **-Nf991**

* * *

Episode 6 - The Rogue Ones

"Hey, Zander."

 _"Tanya? Something up? You're usually in work this time."_

"Yeah, about that…" Tanya carefully rubbed the side of her neck with her free hand. "I'm gonna need to have some time off. Pulled a muscle over the weekend, and I don't want to test it."

 _"Sure. You've had plenty of leave time saved up. How does a week sound? Should give you plenty of time to heal properly."_

"You're amazing Z," Tanya said with a smirk.

 _"Hey, I'm just grateful that the Jujitsu Centre is still intact. What with those damn Rangers destroying the buildings."_

"Uh, yeah…" Tanya agreed half-heartedly, clearing her throat softly. "Anyway, I need to get resting. Hope classes go well."

 _"Alright. Hope you get well soon."_

"Same. See ya," Tanya said, pulling her phone away from her ear and hanging up the call. Thank God she had leave time saved up; she normally would rather quit than not arrive at work, so Zander must have assumed it was serious.

Setting the phone down on the bed-side desk, Tanya slowly eased back against the pillows she had placed against the wall. She internally winced as the muscles of her stomach rocked with pain, her skin tugging in two different directions where the scar remained.

"Damn Fear…" She grunted under her breath, gritting her teeth as she leaned against the pillows, trying to block out the pain.

Seven days had passed since Fear had totaled the Megazord, and from what she had heard, MUTT had been working tirelessly on repairing the damage done by the Warlord.

The Megazord wasn't the only one suffering from the attack. Tanya, and she assumed the others, had been rocked with pain constantly when MUTT had tried to repair the damage. The wounds inflicted on them seemed to throb with pain, personally keeping Tanya up at night with pain.

She reached blindly on the bed-side desk, finding a small container for painkillers, only to find the box was empty with a faint shake.

"Crap," She uttered, throwing the box to the other side of the room, slumping back into her pillows, trying to ignore the pain. Her hand was pressed against her stomach, pretty sure the white vest she was wearing was going to need washing.

After a few minutes of silence within her bedroom, Tanya exhaled slowly as she pulled one hand free and reached for the remote control. Thankfully, it was right where she left it, under the pile of pillows she was resting on.

"Day time TV, don't fail me now," She muttered, as she switched the wall mounted TV across the room from her.

Once it the TV had powered on, she flicked through the channels. Whenever she came across a news channel, she quickly jabbed the channel up button. She didn't even want to hear what the news was saying about them as of last week. Because of Fear, they fucked up parts of the city pretty badly.

Finding nothing of actual interest, she eventually settled on leaving the TV on a rerun of her favorite show, Friends.

"Seen it…" Tanya said to herself, but released the controller and sunk into the pillows and blanket. However, just as the opening credits were about to end, her phone buzzed.

Rolling her eyes audibly, Tanya slowly eased herself up and reached for her phone. It took her a few attempts, but she finally grabbed a hold of the iPhone and pulled it in front of her.

Isaac – _U holding up OK?_

"Shouldn't we be asking you that question?" Tanya asked herself, her thumb unlocking the phone by nature and opening the text screen.

For a few days after their thorough beating, Isaac had been rather quiet and isolated from everyone else. Thankfully, no Demon had attacked. But they wanted to know what was up with Isaac - he wasn't speaking.

So.. they kinda went behind his back. Using MUTT, they had hacked into Isaac's phone, without his knowledge, and figured out that Isaac's mother had, tragically, died during Fear's attack on the hospital. While no body was found, Isaac stumbled across something just outside the shattered doors.

His mother's phone. Covered in blood. They only figured that out when MUTT put together the pages Isaac had looked at since the attack.

Finally coming back to reality, she came to realize that she had opened the text but hadn't responded yet. Her fingers quickly glided over the screen tapping out her message.

 _Doing OK. Hurting like a Bitch. U?_

She sent the text and waited a few minutes for a reply to come through. It took a bit, but Isaac's reply came through.

 _Been better._

She shook her head slightly, but noticed that Isaac sent another message shortly after the latest one.

 _Nat and Matt aren't doing well; both got day off school. Kyle's off work 2._

"Damn," Tanya muttered to herself. She had been in contact with the others briefly too, but only got snippets of any pain they felt. Figuring that Isaac must have had the day off as well, Tanya began tapping out a message to send to him.

 _Wanna go hang out? There's a burger place I think you'd li…_

Tanya paused, her fingers hovering over the buttons to finish the sentence. She read the message over again. She didn't want the message to come across as flirting or anything. It wasn't, was it? Either way, she quickly deleted the message and typed it out again.

 _There's a burger place you need to try. Wanna go?_

After a few seconds of hesitation, she quickly pressed the send button and the message was gone. Setting her phone down, she rested her head back against the pillow. "The hell is wrong with me?" She asked herself, blinking her eyes rapidly. Why the hell was she nervous?

Her phone buzz, dragging her away from her thoughts, as she dragged it back in front of her. It was Isaac's response.

 _Fuck it. Why not?_

Tanya chuckled gently, shaking her head. Isaac had grown a bit blunt, but in a good way.

Finally having a reason to get out of bed, Tanya slowly eased herself into a sitting position. Holding her torso gently, she got to her feet and opened her wardrobe. Several clothes hung up, but she quickly grabbed the first ones she saw.

Tossing her white top off, she briefly glanced over her bra and at her relatively flat torso. The scar stood out as an angry red, with the black stitching keeping the two parts of flesh together. Luckily, it seemed to be holding well.

Now that was sorted, she grabbed a grey vest and slipped it on. A pair of jeans soon followed, and with a dark brown jacket to finish the look, she double checked herself. Not sure why, since she was just meeting a friend.

Checking her hair, figuring it looked alright, since she had it cut so short she didn't have to worry as much as others, Tanya slowly opened her bedroom door and walked through the walkway, heading past the kitchen and to the front door.

"Alice, I'm going out!" She called out, her hand resting on the door handle. After a few seconds delay, the bathroom door opened and a female voice shouted back.

"Where you going?" The voice shouted back.

"To see a friend!" Tanya shouted back.

"You have friends?" Responded her sister.

"Screw you!" Tanya shouted, opening the door and slamming it behind her.

* * *

In a small clearing, far away from Pax Valley's borders, heavy mist covered the ground. It was almost so thick you couldn't even see the grass that covered the ground beneath. The only place the mist broke was when a tree broke its paths, before the mist returned to its dense form.

Beneath the ominous fog, the earth cracked slightly with a low rumble, breaking along a cracked line, only stopping when a tree got in its way.

From the small cracked that formed in the earth, a clawed hand burst from the soil. The grey fur was clogged with dirt, and some patches of fur was missing, revealing the grey skin that lay beneath. But the longer the hand was above ground, the patches of fur seemed to move and spread. Fusing together, removing the gaps.

Grabbing onto one of the tree roots, the arm began pulling the rest of the body up, revealing more of the muscled, grey-furred arm that still lay beneath the earth. The further along the arm, the more patches of fur were missing, fusing together again, but doing nothing to cover the hideous scars that were left over when the fusion stopped.

 **"Finally…"** Came a low growl, as a pair of dark yellow orbs started glowing within the darkness of the earth below, as the body was pulled up from the depths. The end of a muzzle broke through the surface, the same grey fur as the arm. A large scar took a chunk of flesh from the side, resulting in a portion of teeth that was constantly exposed.

 **"You cannot keep us dead for long, Zeta…"**

* * *

A sudden shiver ran down the length of Savage's spine, finishing at the tip of his tail with what some would consider a faint wag. He glanced away from the monitor he was facing, looking over both shoulders briefly. But all he saw over both shoulders was MUTT in the corner of both eyes, his back to him, working away on another computer.

He quickly shook his head, turning his gaze back to the monitor, and tapped a few commands into the keyboard.

 _"Something wrong?"_ MUTT asked.

Savage paused for a few mere seconds, before his clawed fingers returned to the keyboard. "Nothing.. I just thought I felt something. Must have just been a breeze." Savage had hoped that had been enough, but he clearly misunderstood MUTT.

 _"Right... Nothing. Which is a perfectly reasonable excuse for your heartbeat to be raised from 130 to 148 beats per minute,"_ MUTT said, his back still to Savage.

"What have I told you about scanning me?" Savage growled, his hands screwing up into fists, side glancing over to the robot on the opposite side of the room.

 _"Since the humans were selected as the Warriors, my medical scanners have been more active. Call it a mistake,"_ MUTT replied simply.

"I thought you didn't make mistakes," Savage commented.

 _"Normally, I don't. For instant, I know that you've stopped scanning the White Omega for repairs, and have focused your efforts on searching an area of land roughly 170 miles to the north of Pax Valley's borders."_

"MUTT!" Snapped Savage, turning around fully to glare into the back of MUTT's robotic head.

 _"That wasn't me,"_ MUTT raised a hand in defense, the other still tapping over the keyboard, his back still to Savage. _"Your computer alerted me that you had changed programs."_

"When did you do that?" Savage asked with a low growl.

 _"When the five teens went off for their first battle,"_ MUTT responded, finally removing his digits from the keyboard and turning around to look at Savage. Due to the nature of his head, it was impossible to express emotion.

 _"Now, Savage. Something has disturbed you, don't deny it. Explain."_

Savage glared at the robot companion, before he exhaled slowly through his nose and stepped aside from blocking the screen. "I felt something.. odd. Something I hadn't felt for a long time."

 _"Something from your clan?"_

"Not just from my clan," Savage replied, hands slipping into his trench coat pockets and looking off to the side. "There is an area, far from the borders of my clan, and any surrounding ones, that we called the Death Valley."

MUTT looked at Savage for a few seconds, before he spoke again, _"I don't have any records of any location within a thousand miles of Pax Valley known as Death Valley."_

"Not surprising, considering I never told you about it before," Savage responded.

"It was a place where all traitors and rogues' bodies were buried after execution. The Five Warriors themselves were tasked by other clans in the surrounding area to hunt down their rogues. It was also one of the few areas the clans agreed to be non-hostile to other clan members, so long as they're not traitors."

 _"Mercenaries,"_ MUTT stated.

"It's a great dishonor to betray your clan. The Warriors were doing a service to all clans, but their clan came first and foremost," Savage firmly stated.

 _"So, this Death Valley you speak of. This was the location all these rogues were buried?"_ MUTT questioned, storing this latest data given to him in his memory banks. _"This area must be a highly spiritual place."_

"It is definitely a spiritual place," Savage confirmed, before briskly adding, "Dark spirits."

 _"And you believe them to have returned?"_

"Possibly. The presence of Horror's essence may have reanimated the traitors. I may have to send the Warriors to that location to investigate," Savage said, walking around the computer he was working on and moving to one of the computers on the other side.

"In the meantime, we need to focus on repairing the Zords. Horror hasn't released a Demon for the past week, and that makes me think he's planning something big."

 _"I will contact Isaac,"_ MUTT said, minimizing the program he was working on, and activating the comms, connecting the Den to the Howlers.

* * *

"Trust me, you're gonna love this," Tanya assured, as she and Isaac took their seats at the two-person table at the restaurant.

Thankfully, the fast-paced fast-food place had been undamaged during any of their fights with Horror's Demons, and the restaurant was packed with people. Being a work day, though, not as many teens were in the building. Meaning not as many people to recognize Isaac and Tanya.

"'The Howler Grill'?" Isaac asked once they sat down with their orders, removing the straw from its packet.

"What? It's catchy," Tanya defended, grabbing a couple of fries and throwing them in her mouth, chewing idly.

"Kinda weird a lot of the places here have wolf-themed names," Isaac commented, taking a few sips of his soda.

"It's taken you, what, two weeks for you to realize that?" Tanya asked with a raised eyebrow, smirking as she nudged Isaac's side with her elbow.

Isaac rolled his eyes faintly, and grabbed his burger. Tanya noticed how careful Isaac was being when trying to pick up his burger, trying to keep the overstuffed toppings from falling out.

"You really need to stop being so British," She commented idly, a smirk crossing her face when Isaac turned to look at her.

"What do you mean?" Isaac asked, setting his burger down again.

"You're so clean," Tanya said, gesturing to the lack of topping that covered his tray. "You need to have the toppings pretty much covering the tray and yourself. Take note," Tanya added, grabbing her burger. As she went to lift it up, she vaguely attempted to keep her toppings in, but a few bits of onion and sauce kept falling out, onto the tray below her.

As Isaac watched, Tanya reached in and bite into the burger, more sauce getting squeezed onto the tray, looking as though all the toppings were threatening to fall out of the bun.

"God, I've missed this," Tanya muttered, her mouth half full of food as she chewed the flavor out of the beef.

Isaac looked back to his burger, and was about to take a bite out it when a low growl sounded around the two. "Please say it isn't..." He muttered, lowering his burger slightly.

"It is," Tanya confirmed, a sour look to her face as she looked over at Isaac.

The red crystal at the center of Isaac's Howler was glowing faintly, and a low growl was emitting from the device.

"Come on," Isaac groaned, putting his burger down. "Savage owes me another burger."

"That makes two of us," Tanya grunted, as the two of them got to their feet and headed out of the Howler Grill, leaving their burgers where they were. Heading out of the front doors, Isaac and Tanya quickly looked around and found an alley they could go down without attracting too much attention.

"What is it Savage?" Isaac asked into the Howler, leaning against the side of the Howler Grill.

 _"Something's come up. The five of you are needed here, right now."_

"That's going to be a problem, since Matthew, Kyle and Natalie are out of action still," Isaac replied."

A heavy sigh came from the Howler, causing Tanya to raise an eyebrow when Isaac lifted his head up. _"Fine, you and Tanya get here."_

"Yeah," Isaac grunted, and cut the comms short. "Something's come up, apparently," He said, looking over to Tanya.

She rolled her shoulders slowly, before she responded, "Let's just get this shit over with."

"Agreed," Isaac said, before the two of them stood there. Seconds later, a column of red and yellow light enveloped the teens, teleporting them away from their current location.

* * *

"This had better be good, Savage. Your call cost me a good meal," Tanya warned as she and Isaac arrived in the Den, walking forward a few steps forward so they were in the center of the Den's command center.

"This is very important - far more important than any food," Savage said, turning to look at the two over his shoulder, turning away from the computer.

"I know a few people that would argue with that," Isaac muttered, but kept it to himself.

"I have a mission for the two of you," Savage started, folding his arms behind his back as he looked to the two. "There is an area, over a hundred miles north of Pax Valley's borders, that I need you two to investigate. Here," He added, gesturing to one of the monitors. The two looked, and found that there was a small blip where Savage was gesturing to. They saw where the Pax Valley's northernmost border as well; it was a sizable gap.

"What's there?" Isaac asked, arms folded over his chest.

"A graveyard."

Tanya blinked, and side glanced at Isaac. "A graveyard? You're sending us.. to a graveyard?"

Savage looked to Tanya, and said, "This isn't anything like your human graveyards. This is a graveyard of traitors from many different clans. My clan included."

"And you think that something's happened there?" Isaac guessed.

"Correct."

"And if a Demon shows up?" Tanya pressed.

"I've got that covered," Savage said, adding, "I've got something for to help with the other Warriors." The two teens nodded, though seemed a bit apprehensive. They knew the others weren't in any condition to fight, but Savage knew what he was doing.

 _"Location has been locked. Prepared to teleport,"_ MUTT said, looking away from his monitor.

"Time for you two to go," Savage said, stepping back. "Report back for any findings."

Isaac and Tanya nodded slightly, before stepping back to prepare for teleportation.

MUTT typed in the command, and the two were enveloped in their respective colored lights. Moments later, the two were once again being teleported and vanished from the Den.

Once the two were gone, MUTT looked over at Savage and said, _"Are you planning to give the other three what I believe you are going to give?"_

"I know what I'm doing," Savage assured.

 _"I thought Instinct was toxic to humans."_

"It'll be diluted - an impure form should be safe for humans."

 _"That'll be assuring to them,"_ MUTT replied. If it wasn't for him being a robot, the tone would have passed for sarcasm.

* * *

"Shit!" Isaac exclaimed when he and Tanya arrived at the location, his foot slipping off of a wet rock and nearly falling back. But he was quickly caught by Tanya, who quickly grabbed his arm and pulled him back up to both feet.

"You good?" She asked. Once he nodded, she released the hold and stepped back to look around at their surroundings. "Now where the hell are we?" Tanya asked, her hands drawing to her hips as she looked around at the tall trees surrounding the two of them.

"Didn't Savage say we were going to find this place in a clearing?" Isaac asked, he too looking up at the trees. From the look of the tree density, they were far from any sort of clearing.

"Savage? We've got a problem," Tanya said into her Howler, looking around slowly.

 _"What did you find?"_ Savage's voice respond.

"He doesn't even know," Isaac grunted, as he walked around a few steps.

"Well, we've found something. We've found.. that we aren't anywhere near a clearing," Tanya said, looking around again. Double-confirming that they were in the middle of a thick forest.

A bit of shuffling came from the other side of the comms, before a voice replied - MUTT's. _"It appears I was a bit off for the teleportation."_

"'A bit?'" Tanya asked, glancing at Isaac with a bit of corner, and mild annoyance. "Care to explain how off you were?"

 _"The settings were off only the slightest bit, and you're only a mile or two short of the clearing. Due north."_

"A couple of miles?" Tanya all but shouted into the Howler.

 _"I've made the adjustments for the teleporter to stay within the perimeters of the Pax Valley. Frankly, you should consider yourselves lucky it was only a few miles."_

"I swear, I...!" Tanya began, before Isaac covered her Howler. When she glared up at him, he shook his head slightly.

"It's alright, MUTT. We'll walk the rest of the way," He said into Tanya's Howler, quickly breaking the comms after speaking.

"Why'd you do that?" Tanya demanded as Isaac walked away.

"It's better to just this over and done with," Isaac replied, shaking his head slightly as he began walking off.

"Alright, Mr. Quick. But just to let you know, North is that way," Tanya said, gesturing behind her. In the opposite direction to the way Isaac was walking. The teen stopped momentarily, before quickly turning on the ball of his feet and began walking the other way.

"I knew that," He said as he passed her. Tanya rolled her eyes slightly, smirking smugly as she followed after Isaac. The two of them trudging through the mud and leafs that surrounded the trees.

"Did you find anything strange happening recently?"

Tanya raised her eyebrow slightly when Isaac finally spoke up for the first time in fifteen minutes. They had spent the majority of their time walking in silence; walking roughly side by side for portions of their walk. The question kind of caught her off guard.

"Uh.. how do you mean, strange?"

Isaac shrugged slightly, hands freeing themselves from his pockets as they continued walking.

"Since I had this thing," He gestured to the Howler, pulling up his sleeve slightly, "I've noticed weird things. Like, my hearing - when we in the hospital, before it all went to shit, I could hear the two receptionists talking over all of the other people. And it was, like, the entirely opposite side of the room."

"And another thing," Isaac added, stopping this time, causing Tanya to stop two steps later. "I've been smelling things that I hadn't before."

"Are you sure you're not taking drugs?" Tanya asked.

"I'm serious," Isaac said firmly.

"So am I."

Isaac rolled his eyes slightly, before he collected himself. "There's stuff Savage needs to tell us about these things," He tapped his Howler, "And I'm going to let him know what's happened."

"Yeah, yeah," Tanya said, rolling her eyes slightly as she returned to walking, her arms folded in front of her chest. Isaac's shoulders sagged slightly, shaking his head a little as he walked after Tanya, speeding up slightly to keep pace with her. After about a minute of silently walking, Tanya sighed a little and said, "Look. Sorry. I've noticed something like what you said. I couldn't hear the TV in the living room like I did before we got our Howlers, and it stings more when I burn food and the smell blows up in my face."

"What about the others?" Isaac asked.

"Haven't heard Matt or Nat saying they were suffering from anything like that, but Kyle said he was getting headaches frequently. Wondering if that was a side effect?"

"Maybe..." Isaac said, hands slipping back into his pockets as they lapped into silence, continuing their walk.

* * *

"I know who it is.. Process of elimination..." Fear muttered under his breath, his eyes closed as he sat in a meditative stance. Kneeling down, hands resting on his knees as he had his head bowed slightly. A small, green fire was lit in front of him, seemingly lit from nothing at all. Just floating a few inches off the ground.

"Come on," Fear muttered to himself, gripping his knee armor a bit tighter the more aggravated he became. "Who could teach them? Has to be one of the Wolves, extended lifespan.. but that doesn't narrow it down. One of the Five perhaps, but they were all killed. Someone close perhaps..."

He hated not knowing knowledge was power, as a saying went, and Fear needed to know. It would become a thorn in his side if he couldn't figure it out. Either that, or locate where the command center of the Warriors and find out directly.

As Fear contemplated over who the mentor of the Warriors could be, Batibat was looking intently through a viewing portal, observing what it showed.

"What would the humans be going there for?" She muttered to herself, as she saw two humans, one male, one female, walking through a forest with a sense of knowing. They seemed to know they were going somewhere, and that somewhere was a place of highly spiritual presence.

"The Valley of the Dead," Batibat said to herself, remembering the place she had observed many of the Wolf creatures of the past slaughter their own kind. There had been a great spiritual presence there during the reign of her Master, and recently, that same presence started to form. Subtle at first, but it became a nagging feeling. Like a thousand voices at once were screaming, shouting - very quiet at first, but steadily growing louder in her head.

Briskly turning, Batibat walked back to the caverns, situated in the back of the realm. Walking through a thin space between the main cavern and one of the smaller ones, she found Fear in his meditating stance, muttering to himself.

Rolling her eyes slightly, she said, "I'm going to the Human Realm to investigate something." Possibly louder than she should have done, but she couldn't care less.

At the loud, obnoxious tone ringing in his ears, Fear inhaled sharply and opened his eyes, glaring up at the she-Demon that stood opposite him, the only thing separating them being the small fire that sat before him.

"And, pray tell, what are you investigating?" Fear asked, pushing himself to his feet and returning to standing higher than Batibat.

"That Valley of the Dead those Wolves buried their kind," Batibat replied shortly.

Fear looked a bit skeptical, before pressing, "And what is happening there that has you so interested?"

Batibat glared at the Demon as he pressed for details, but responded, "I have my reasons, Fear. Just as you have yours." Fear glared back at Batibat, before he took a step forward...

Batibat subtly reached behind her, gripping on the handle of a small dagger she kept strapped to her back. But she lessened her grip ever so slightly when Fear stepped onto the small green fire, twisting the fire out. Diminishing what little extra light the green fire cast.

"Very well," Fear said, slowly walking past Batibat, glaring over his shoulder at her briefly before walking out of the small cavern completely.

Batibat glared back at her fellow Warlord, before shaking her head. Fear was not of her concern right now. Right now, she had to have her efforts focused elsewhere.

She turned as well, waiting long enough for Fear to walk off before she walked after, snapping her fingers once in the larger cavern. Immediately, a black-and-green portal opened up and, without much hesitation, she walks through the portal, entering the human realm.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the cavern, Fear was looking through a viewing portal, stroking his chin gently. His eyes were focused on the strange human building he had attacked a few moons ago. Humans were pacing around the building, wearing their strange black clothes to assert authority.

"Hmm... Perhaps I should check on the spores," Fear muttered to himself, stroking his chin gently as he spoke. Confirming himself with his own suggestion, Fear snapped his fingers and another portal appeared before him.

"Let Batibat continue with her attempts to please the Master..." He said to himself, a malice edge to his tone as he stepped through the portal, he too entering the human realm.

* * *

"How is this possible? We were dead, and now, we're alive again?"

"We should be thankful that we have been blessed with given a second chance."

 **"Will you two be quiet?"**

The two anthropomorphic wolves looked away from each other to look at the third one. The three of them all had similar shades of fur color - varying shades of dark grey. All had similar parts of armor across their bodies also. The two arguing, the pair of females, had additional armor across their chests to keep themselves modest.

It was clear that there was some fabric addition to the original clothing, as there was a large gap between the waist and leg armor and the chest armor worn by the females. Exposing their lean, fur-covered torsos.

The one that was separate from the females, the only male, had situated himself on a rock and was looking at what seemed like nothing, deep in thought. His dark red eyes were unfocused, staring into nothing, until the voices of the females distracted him.

He glared over his shoulder at them when their voices grew too loud, they quickly lapped into silence when they were scolded by the male. The scars over both his eyes, giving them their signature red color, giving him the look of intimidation during his past.

One of the females, the one with the fur as a slightly darker shade of grey and a pair of dark blue eyes, folded her armored forearms over her chest, raising an eyebrow.

"Kuli, you seem tense," She said, slowly approaching the male from behind and gently slipped her dull clawed hands under the gaps in his armor. Her fingers gently messaging the fur and muscle that lay beneath. "Perhaps I could help…" She purred gently, resting her thin muzzle against the male's ear.

The other female stayed where she had been, and rolled her eyes at Reliee's advances - even after coming back from the dead, she was trying to entice Kuli.

The male shook his head slightly, gently pushing the female back as he got to his feet, looking around the small clearing they were in, among the thick forest that surrounded them, as he began sniffing the air.

 **"The air smells different,"** Kuli growled lowly, his sensitive nose twitching slightly as he took in the various scents. He detected various new scents, and struggled to find the usually deep smell of earth among the stronger, sharper scents of metal.

And humans.

"I smell it too," Reliee confirmed, her nose twitching slightly as she too sniffed the air.

Licos raised an eyebrow slightly, before she too took a deep inhale. Instantly, the metallic smell stung her nostrils and she had to fight coughing to clear her throat. The strength of the stench was overwhelming.

"The human scent is nearby," Reliee added, taking a few steps forward to get a better sniff of the air. The other two wolves sniffed the air again, and they confirmed what their comrade said.

Two distinct human scents were more pronounced than the others they smelt. But something seemed.. off about them.

"Do either of you smell that? The humans, they smell.. off," Licos said quietly, focusing on trying to identify what the smell mixed into the humans'.

"Us…"

 **"What?"** Kuli growled, turning sharply to look at Reliee. Licos turned to look at the other female as well, surprised at what she had said.

"They smell like us. Tell me you don't smell it," Reliee pressed, gesturing to the direction the scents were coming from.

Still struggling to even comprehend that Reliee would even suggest that, Kuli took another inhale, focusing on the two nearby human scents. Despite his disbelief trying to say otherwise, there was an unmistakable scent sticking to the humans.

The smell of their kind.

 **"That's not possible…"** Kuli growled lowly, his posture straightening slightly as he homed in on the scents. **"It's just not."**

"Apparently, it is," Licos replied dryly, causing both Reliee and Kuli to glare back at her comment. She quickly fell quiet, turning her muzzle down slightly in submission.

 **"Reliee, investigate,"** Kuli growled, looking to the other female and gesturing to the direction the scents were located.

The blue eyed she-wolf nodded once, before she quickly headed off from the clearing, pushing herself into the thick trees. Upon breaking through the tree line, she jumped up and grabbed onto a thick, low-hanging branch. Flipping herself up using her momentum, she quickly landed on another tree's extended branch, her sudden weight causing the wood to bend ever so slightly.

Not noticing, Reliee quickly began jumping from tree to tree, eventually climbing so she was at least twenty feet above the ground, using the trees to get her around undetected.

* * *

"Jesus.. they really did a number on this place..."

Officer Rogers glanced across at the other officer, as they walked down one of the many corridors of the now closed hospital. While the corridor wasn't as bad as the main reception, the corridor was still pretty messed up. Large dents were along the length of the corridor, cracks forming to the ceiling, chunks falling and resting on the floor.

Doors were barely hanging out their hinges, and some had come off entirely, falling onto the ground of their rooms.

"Yeah, they fucked this place up..." Rogers added, looking down one room that the door had been knocked down, before continuing onward.

"The other groups should be meeting at the reception soon," The other officer, Frank, said, gesturing down the corridor they were facing.

Rogers glanced back at Frank, the younger of the two of them, before he pulled his body back from the door frame and continued walking with the other officer.

"Any idea where those freaky guys went?" Frank asked as they resumed walking.

"If I had an idea, I'd probably tell me," Rogers replied dryly.

The two walked in silence for a few minutes, before they came to the end of the corridor and they were split down two different paths.

"I take the right corridor, you take the left," Rogers ordered, gesturing to the right corridor, then to the left.

Frank nodded slightly, before the two parted ways and headed down different ways of the corridor.

For the first twenty or so steps from either of them, but that was when Frank heard the sound of glass shattering from behind him. He turned around quickly, his eyes snapping across the width of the corridor for Rogers.

But the second officer was absent; no sign of the dark blue uniform that all officers wore. Slightly put off that Rogers didn't come rushing into sight at the sound, Frank slowly turned around fully and walked back the way he came.

"Rogers?" He asked slowly, looking around the empty corridors. His footsteps echoing slightly among the white, and slightly scarred, corridor.

But no response came. Just silence.

"Rogers..." Frank called again, continuing taking steps back, reaching the point where they had split, and was now walking in Rogers's area.

He passed a couple of doors, that miraculously, had managed to keep on their hinges, before reaching one that looked as though it had been opened by hand. Just barely cracked open, but noticeable against the other doors.

"Rogers, you in there?" Frank said in a lowered voice, approaching the door and carefully resting his hand against the wooden door. Barely touching the wooden surface, before making firm contact and pushing the door a few inches.

"Rogers..." He whispered again, slightly louder than his previous tone, as he pushed the door open further. Revealing the darkness enveloping the room entirely.

Suddenly, the door was wrenched open entirely, causing Frank to stumble forward ever so slightly, before righting himself. He quickly pulled his hands back to reach for his gun, before he saw a face through the darkness.

Rogers'.

"Calm down kid," Rogers said, his voice quiet. "I've found something in here. Just keep your voice down."

"What have you found?" Frank asked, trying to look into the darkened room Rogers had come out of. But the room was impossible to see into, the darkness preventing any shapes to be made out.

"Trust me, it'll be easier to show rather than explain it," Rogers said lowly, looking up and down the corridor before gesturing for the other officer to follow him.

Frank glanced up and down the corridor, seeing they were the only two in the white-walled strength of hallway. He slowly walked forward, entering the room.

"Alright, so where is this thing you w..." Frank started, but stopped with a small, sharp pain pricking at the side of his neck. He grunted quietly, his hand flying to the side of his neck. His fingers found the point where the pain stemmed from, moving over what felt like a toothpick jammed into the side of his neck.

"What the..?" He asked slowly, before he found himself growing dizzy and nauseous. The lack of light made it hard to focus on anything, as he felt himself fall to one knee.

"W.. What's happen.. ing..." He asked slowly, his words slurring as unconsciousness started to set in. He felt himself fall onto his side, his vision hazy as they started to lose focus.

His eyes closed fully, changing from one darkness to another.

* * *

Reliee paused in the trees, inhaling deeply, fresh air entering her lungs for the first time in thousands of years. But it felt far longer to her.

Leaning back against the main trunk of the tree, she scanned the area below and around her. Her eyes on the lookout for any slight movement, while her nose inhaled slowly, taking in all of the scents she could.

There was one scent that dominated her nose.

"Damn humans and their scents," The she-wolf muttered, the metallic nature of their scents burning her sensitive nose. She almost had to make sure she wasn't going to damage it permanently because of the smell.

Resting more against the thick tree, Reliee slowly slid down and sat down on the branch she had landed on, taking a short break to allow her body to relax.

One leg dangling over the edge of the split of the tree, Reliee leaned against the main tree. The scent was so strong nearby, she figured out the mixed scented humans must have been nearby.

Content with waiting for what may take a while, the she-wolf decided to let herself relax slightly. Reaching her hands up to the sides of the slim mask she wore, and slowly undid the clasps.

Mindful of her muzzle, she slowly slid the mask off her face. Once off, she sighed lowly and ran one hand through the fur across her cheek. A feeling she hadn't felt for quite some time; the soft fur under her lightly dulled claws. She traced one of the scars hidden away under her grey fur.

Leaning back against the tree again, Reliee's eyes returned to instinctively scanning across the ground beneath her, looking for any human movements.

It was around twenty minutes later that the sound of ruffling bushes caused Reliee's ears to perk up ever so slightly, since they were nearly at their straightest point already, and her eyes began scanning over one area of the forest beneath her. Her ears managed to isolate the area she could find the humans.

Picking herself up from leaning against the tree, Reliee reached for the side of her waist, before finding something missing.

Her mask!

Hand flying to her face, she confirmed, in horror, she had misplaced her mask. Looking around frantically, her eyes finally caught sight of her mask.

Right at the base of the tree.

"Damn Zeta..." She uttered under her breath, a low snarl escaping through her curled lip, before more bushes ruffling caught her attention again. The humans were drawing closer.

Her eyes darted from the place her mask rested to the ground, to where the scents was coming from rapidly.

Her ears perked up again, after flicking down in agitation, when she heard voices, supposedly the humans.

" _How far can this fucking clearing be? We've been hacking through these bushes for, what, like an hour?"_ One voice said, the deeper tone suggesting male.

" _Look on the brighter side, you would have burnt off the calories of that burger if you had any bites."_ There was the other voice; the lighter tone suggested this was a female.

"Mates, perhaps?" Reliee asked herself quietly, closing her eyes slowly as she tried focusing on the scents. The metallic tinted human scent was even more overwhelming than before, but the wolf-part of their scents were more present, more.. distinctive.

"Can't be..." Reliee uttered to herself, her eyes opening again as two shapes moved through the bushes, kicking a path through the overgrown greenery.

Slowly rising to her feet, Reliee finally spotted the approaching humans, getting a good look at the two for the first time.

Just as her suspicions confirmed, one was male, one was female. They wore strange, black articles of cloth, looking far more advanced than the clothing she remembered seeing the humans in. They also walked with confidence, a sight she normally saw of her own kind, not of the humans.

Moving slowly, she reached to her belt once again and into one of the small pouches against her waist, her fingers grasping the small rock inside.

Firmly holding it on her hand, she looked across from the tree and, with a bit of force, threw the rock through the air. It went sailing across the area, finally landing in the middle of large patch of leaves and bushes, creating a large ruckus.

Like she planned, the humans' attention was drawn to the rock's area of landing, their movements freezing and staring at the bushes.

A faint, light chuckle escaped Reliee's throat, as she whispered, "Typical humans," As she stood up fully, her tail flicking behind her properly once again. Crouching slightly, Reliee's muscles tensed and she jumped off the branch, falling through the air and towards the ground.

* * *

"How far can this fucking clearing be?" Isaac asked as they made their way through a particularly overgrown area. Trying to maintain a path as the crow flies had its downsides. "We've been hacking through these bushes for, what, like an hour?"

"Look on the bright side," Tanya said, stepping through the broken path Isaac made for them. "You would have burnt off the calories of that burger if you had any bites."

"Fuck off," Isaac muttered, half glancing over his shoulder to glare at Tanya, though there was an obvious sarcastic look to his glare.

Tanya rolled her eyes in response, a smirk curling on her lips, before something caught both their attention.

The bushes to their side suddenly shook, the leaves rustling loudly. Their eyes were fixed momentarily on the bushes as Isaac quietly asked, "Do you reckon that was one of them?"

But Tanya didn't respond; her face screwed up slightly, a look of confusion ghosting over her face, before she rubbed one side of her head.

A distant sounding, quiet creak echoed through her ear, causing a small spike of pain to come over one of her temples.

As she raised her hand to rub her aching temple, the sound of the creaking echoed again, and she heard the sound of rushing wind. Like something was pushing through the air.

She looked over her shoulder, and saw a large shape rushing through the air, heading straight towards them.

"Watch out!" she shouted, suddenly taking a step back and ran forward, tackling Isaac out of the way, the two rolling across the ground as the strange shape landed where they had been standing seconds earlier.

"Wha-oh…" Isaac said, his voice raised slightly, before falling quiet again when he saw the tall figure standing before them.

Momentarily, Isaac thought he was looking up at Savage. But several things gave away that this wasn't the case. The figure was slimmer, the ears were a fraction smaller and narrower, and they were absent of the trench coat Savage wore. Instead, they wore some sort of old-looking armor, acting to cover the chest, waist and legs of the wolf.

"Yep, Savage was right," Isaac muttered, as he and Tanya quickly pushed themselves to their feet, moving into defensive stances.

Reliee's ears perked up slightly at the muttering, her eyes unfocused on the humans momentarily as she thought.

"Savage?" She asked herself, before she quickly refocused her efforts and returned her gaze on the two humans. "You humans do not smell of normal humans," Reliee commented, slowly pacing around the humans, circling them slowly. Like prey.

"Not the worst thing she could have said," Tanya commented dryly, getting a light elbow to her ribs for her words.

"I say we morph and kick her ass," Isaac whispered lowly, noting how the she-wolf's ears twitched slightly, swiveling subtly. But noticeable, strangely, to Isaac's eyes, drawn to movement by instinct.

Some of the words said by the humans seemed strange to her. Morph? _What could they possibly mean by that?_ she thought to herself, pausing in her circling, so she was exactly opposite the circle she had made.

Before she could respond to the humans, they both drew one arm across their chests and pressed into a device on their wrist. Her eyes caught a brief glimmer of red and yellow glowing, and in that instant, her eyes widened.

"United, we Howl!"

"Not possible…" Reliee whispered, as the two humans were enveloped in columns of light, the male with red, and the female was yellow.

Seconds passed, and the light disappeared with a bright flash, forcing Reliee to squint against the sudden light. When it passed, and she opened them once again, she was staring at figures she thought she would never, _ever_ see again.

"You…" She said slowly, a growl ripping from the base of her throat, as her eyes narrowed in anger, glaring holes into the Red and Yellow Warriors.

" _She talking to us?"_ Tanya asked, glancing briefly at Isaac, trying to maintain her eyes on the she-wolf, who seemed to have been growing angrier.

" _She's talking to the suits,"_ Isaac responded, his eyes focused solely on the she-wolf.

"So, the descendants of Yei and Sage come to fight a battle that has nothing to do with them," Reliee said, extending one hand to her side and snapping her fingers.

Instantly, black smoke came flowing off of her arm, focusing around her hand before extending forward. The smoke took the form of a large, curved blade as the smoke became solid, revealing a solid black blade, her hand wrapped around a hold within the back of the blade itself.

"I will take pleasure in doing this," Reliee said, slowly drawing the large blade up her body, letting the sharpened edge to rest against her shoulder armor.

Isaac and Tanya both drew their respective weapons, and the two of the individuals rushed at each other, while Tanya hung back to make the best use of her bow.

Isaac and Reliee collided, their weapons striking one another as they looked for an opening to strike. They drew their blades back, and began striking again and again.

Tanya drew a yellow bolt back, aiming down at the two fighters before her, but she couldn't get a clear shot. Whenever she thought she had a clear shot on the she-wolf warrior, the two would shift and Isaac would be sitting in the middle of her sights.

 _"Need to get a damn sword,"_ Tanya muttered to herself, eventually dropping the bolt and rushing forward.

Reliee's ears perked slightly at the Warrior running towards her, and quickly kicked the Red Warrior back. As Isaac was kicked to the ground, coming to a stop against a tree, she faced the rushing Yellow Warrior. She growled lowly, dodging the punches Tanya threw at her, her head moving from side to side to avoid punches. Her body moved with her head, avoiding any lower punches and kicks the Warrior tried throwing at her.

Grabbing the latest fist that was thrown, Reliee glared at Tanya through the Warrior's visor, before her grip tightened and threw the Yellow Warrior to one side.

Tanya yelped in pain as she collided with the tree, sure she heard something make a loud crack. Hopefully it was the tree, and not her back. Judging that she could still feel how much pain her back was in, it was from within the tree.

She raised her head to find Isaac was juggling between throwing punches and striking his sword against the she-wolf. Said wolf was able to block the sword strikes with her own, while her other forearm managed to block the punches.

Pushing the Red Warrior away, Reliee took her own step back, swiping the curved blade through the air in front of her as she caught her breath.

"You have Sage's fire," Reliee commented, a small smirk twitching at the corners of her muzzle, before she quickly righted herself and brought her curved blade up to rest on her armored shoulder.

Isaac adjusted his fingers around his sword, and the two began circling one another again. Tanya watched on as the two circled the small area of grass, never taking their eyes off the other.

Reliee growled lowly, her upper lip curling up slightly, flashing her teeth in a threatening display. Isaac had no such display of affection, simply staying silent, glaring intently at the she-wolf from behind his partially cracked visor.

However, rather different to what they were expected, Reliee started to walk back, before turning around and breaking into a run, vanishing into the trees in a blur of grey and black.

" _Uh.. what just happened?"_ Tanya asked as she slowly pushed herself onto her knees, rubbing the side of the helmet, shaking her head slowly.

A silver-gloved hand was offered to her, and she saw glanced up to see Isaac standing in front of her, one hand outstretched.

Taking Isaac's forearm, who grabbed Tanya's in return, Tanya was pulled up to her feet and she quickly released Isaac. _"Thanks,"_ she said, while Isaac simply nodded in response.

" _We need to find out where she went,"_ Isaac responded, looking around, roughly in the direction the wolf had ran off to.

Tanya nodded in response, and the two took off running; turning into streaks of red and yellow as they ran through the trees, dodging trunks and jumping over rocks, leaving behind the area where they had fought.

* * *

" **What took you so long?"** Kuli questioned, hearing the light footed landing behind him, yet he didn't turn around yet.

Licos turned around to look at, who she assumed was Reliee, only to freeze, and begin to growl lowly. Kuli's ear perked up at this growling, and got up from his sitting position and turned around. His eyes resting on the creature before him, a low growl emitted from his throat, his upper lip curling to reveal his sharpened fangs.

"Well, I was going to wait a little longer, but if I knew you were this impatient…" Batibat said, a small smirk across her pale face, as she stood in the clearing. Her arms folded across her chest, the shadow-like smoke clinging to her clothing like fog.

" **Witch!"** Kuli growled, snapping his fingers sharply and black smoke began to form around his hand. Taking the shape of a curved blade, the excess smoke vanished, revealing the sharpened edge, curved sword blade. Licos snapped her own fingers, and her own sword formed from the smoke.

Batibat rolled her eyes slowly, raising one hand as she said, "I am not here to start conflict. If I wanted that, I would have dealt with you before you knew I was here."

" **You are a Demon. My kind fought against you, before they turned on us. I have anger towards them, but you…"** Kuli gestured to the she-Demon with his large blade. **"Even I despise you."**

"You deserve nothing but death," Licos snapped, the usually calmer, relatively speaking, she-wolf lashing her tail in irritation, holding her sword defensively in front of her.

"Big words towards the Demon that helped resurrect you," Batibat responded smoothly. This caught both of the wolf creatures off guard, and they both glanced at each other.

" **Why would you resurrect us?"** Kuli questioned, still holding his sword across his body, glaring intently at the she-Demon. Licos shared the same glare at Batibat, slowly lowering her blade against the ground.

"I require information," Batibat said, before she unfolded her arms and stared at the male wolf. "You were part of the, so-called, Western Lunar Clan?" The mentioning of the Clan's name caused Kuli to visibly tense up, causing Licos to glance from the she-Demon to the male.

" **Why do you want to know that?"** The male questioned in a low growl.

"Your Clan was home to the Wolf Warriors."

" **Zeta's Guardians... Yes, they were."**

"Well, they have returned," Batibat continued. "But, they are Humans."

This elected a faint smirk to cross Licos' muzzle, as she commented, "That is impossible. Zeta would never allow that."

"If I were lying, you wouldn't be alive," Batibat replied dryly.

" **Say that you're right,"** Kuli said, slowly taking steps towards the she-Demon, making the height difference between the two of them even more prominent. **"Why would you want us back to life?"**

"I want to know who would be most likely to training them - the most capable of the pack to do so," Batibat asked, pacing a few paces across the clearing, stopping momentarily to glance to the two wolves.

Kuli glanced at Licos, who was propping herself up on her curved blade and shrugged at the look, before looking back at the she-Demon. He opened his muzzle to respond, but was cut off by the sound of bushes ruffling.

"I found the hu…" Reliee said, but stopped, both in speaking terms and running terms, as she came to a sliding stop over the grass upon seeing the she-Demon.

The four beings froze in the clearing, but were quickly interrupted when two streaks, one red and one yellow, collided with Reliee and tackled her to the ground. Coming to the sudden stop, the streaks of color revealing the Red and Yellow Wolf Warriors, trying to hold down the struggling she-wolf.

" _Talk!"_ Shouted a male voice, the Red Warrior, as he drew his sword. The Yellow Warrior glanced up once and looked back at the she-wolf they had pinned. But she did a double take, and froze.

" _Uh… Alpha?"_ Said a quiet female voice.

" _What?"_ Replied the male, as the Yellow Warrior tapped his shoulder. The Red Warrior looked up, and he too froze.

" _Oh shit."_

With a low grunt, Reliee managed to push her hands underneath her and pushed herself up, forcing the two Warriors off of her back, climbing to her feet quickly. The two Warriors quickly recovered, stepping back and holding themselves defensively.

Batibat quickly moved away from the other two wolves, glancing between the two different groups before her. Reliee quickly rushed over to join Kuli and Licos, the three Wolves holding their blades, the three sets of eyes switching between the she-Demon and the two newest Wolf Warriors.

" **The Witch is mine,"** Kuli growled lowly, glaring at the she-Demon, as her gaze shifted from the three Wolves to the two other Warriors.

"I got Red," Reliee muttered, glaring at the Red-clad Warrior, flexing her fingers around the gaps in the blade. Her lip curled up to reveal her fangs, as a low growl vibrated through her throat.

Tanya turned her head slightly, hearing the slightly muffled voices of the Wolves standing across the clearing to them.

" _That Wolf we tackled is after you,"_ She whispered, turning her head slightly to speak to Isaac.

Isaac slowly nodded, shifting his gaze to the other figure that was in the clearing, clad in black clothes, and a pale complexion.

" _You OK taking the Goth?"_ He asked quietly.

" _Yep,"_ Tanya confirmed, muttering under her breath, _"Really wish I had a decent weapon."_

" _Beggars can't be choosers,"_ Isaac remarked, before turning back to look at the anthropomorphic wolves.

Silence filled the clearing for a few seconds, before a low snarl ripped from Ruli and the wolves charged forward, the one male splitting off from the two females and charging at Batibat.

Isaac and Tanya ran in different directions, the Red Warrior rushing at the two female wolves, while Tanya ran at the she-Demon.

Kuli snarled as he struck his blade at Batibat, who managed to block the attacks by her small black bladed daggers, deflecting the attack and sending the male wolf stumbling aside.

Batibat turned sharply and threw one of her daggers into the air, freeing her hand to grasp onto the incoming fist thrown at her. Tanya grunted loudly as she tried to wrench her fist free of Batibat's grasp, but it wasn't budging.

"Even I know a human doesn't deserve these powers," Batibat said, glaring at the Yellow Warrior's visor, almost seeing the intense look the human was returning behind it. "Who gave them to you?"

" _Like I'd tell you, bitch,"_ Tanya spat, suddenly kicking her leg up and driving it into Batibat's gut. But there was no reaction from the she-Demon - instead of keeling over, allowing Tanya to pull her hand free, it was like kicking into a solid, brick wall.

A smirk crossed Batibat's slim lips, as she questioned, "Not the reaction you were expecting?"

But before anymore could be said, a loud snarl broke the two up and made Batibat push Tanya away. This gave space for Kuli to go charging through, intending on striking at least one of them. But he just ran through the gap, coming to a rough stop.

He turned around sharply and swung his blade wildly, not caring for who he was hitting. The Witch, the Warrior…either was fair game to him.

Tanya ducked and stepped back to avoid the blade strikes towards her, while Batibat blocked the attacks with her daggers, sending sparks flying from where the weapons connected.

Meanwhile, Isaac stumbled back against a tree, shaking his head slightly to clear the stars from his vision. He quickly shifted to the side, avoiding the swinging blade that sunk into the bark.

He turned to look at the she-wolf, while looking to the other who was advancing on him. He rolled his shoulders slightly, gripping his sword tighter.

" _I've got two girls to myself… somehow, I thought I'd be saying that about humans,"_ Isaac muttered under his breath, his eyes shifting from one wolf to the other, as the one wolf pulled their sword out from the tree. All that was left was a large gash through the bark.

"I'm going to enjoy this," Reliee sneered, bringing the blade from resting on her shoulder to slipping her other clawed hand into the other grip, holding the blade tightly. Licos brushed off the remaining chunks of bark from her curved blade, as the two females stood facing the Red-clad Warrior.

" _Come get it, puppy,"_ Isaac breathed, flicking his sword before rushing forward, kicking up loose bit of soil as he melded into a red blur. The female wolves snarled and rushed forward, fading into blurs of different shades of grey.

The three streaks collided, the two grey streaks striking the red streak multiple times, sparks flying multiple times.

It wasn't long before Isaac was thrown from his streak, sending him flying into a tree. A deep _crack_ echoed through the tree, resulting in a large crack to run up the length of the tree. Isaac ended up lying, slumped, at the base of the tree, his head hanging limply.

Groaning softly, Isaac tried to lift his head and push himself to his feet. But immediately, he felt pain fire up his leg, and he collapsed again, groaning again as fresh pain rocked his system.

"I had hoped for better," Reliee commented, coming to a stop along with the Licos, standing before the collapsed Red Warrior.

He was soon joined by the flying body of the Yellow Warrior, as she was thrown across the clearing and landed just in front of Isaac. Her suit had several new cuts across the design, removing more of the yellow color from the design, and her visor was slightly cracked.

" **The Witch vanished,"** Kuli growled as he approached, resting the blade across his shoulder, coming to a stop besides the two females. **"But never mind for now, let's finish these 'Warriors'."**

"They don't deserve that title," Reliee sneered, as the three wolves closed in on the downed humans. As they drew nearer, Isaac tried to get up, but pain continued to rock through his leg, forcing him to stay sat down.

" _Shit,"_ Was all he said under his breath.

* * *

Elsewhere in the forest, Reliee's mask remained where it fell, resting against the base of the tree. The sunlight was suddenly cut from reaching the mask when a figure passed by.

The shadow passed the mask, but came to a stop and took a few paces back. The shadow cast itself back over the mask, before the figure creating the shadow approached the discarding item.

A faint 'hmm' of curiosity escaped the figure, as it crouched down in front of the mask and reached a gloved hand for the black mask. Lifting the mask off of the ground, the figure turned it in their hand, tracing their fingers over the muzzle cover.

The figure stood up, mask still in hand as they turned away, and quickly spirited off, seemingly with a purpose in their running.

* * *

Reliee, Kuli and Licos bared down on Isaac and Tanya, as the two humans tried to get up. Tanya managed to get to one knee, only to fall back and land back against the tree, beside Isaac. Said Red Warrior was trying to push himself up using the tree as support, but the pain kept him from standing properly.

Kuli raised his blade above him, a malicious gleam to his eye as he tensed up, aiming to bring the blade down on the fallen humans.

But he froze when he scented the air, looking around slowly. Seeing the male had frozen, Reliee looked over at him and quietly growled, "What is it?"

" **Do you smell that?"**

Her eyes firmly returned to the Warriors, Reliee sniffed the air quickly. "I can't smell any-" She started, but she cut herself off when the smell finally hit her. Her body tensed up and she turned around sharply, looking behind the three of them.

A streak of color ran at Reliee, tackling her full force and sending her flying into one of the surrounding trees. The blur vanished, revealing Reliee trying to get back to her feet.

Licos back up and looked around quickly, holding her blade firmly as her eyes shifted around the trees. The scent was evident in her nose, but she couldn't identify it. All she could tell was it was very potent, like it was sticking inside her nose and she couldn't get rid of it.

Kuli heard a _whoosh_ of air as he saw Licos get caught up in the same blur, getting thrown against another tree and slumping onto the ground, her weapon lying just out of reach of her hand. Her body lay limp on the ground, unconscious.

The male wolf growled throatily as he turned around fully, his back now to the two humans, as he held his blade firmly, his eyes sharply taking in any detail.

" **The Witch said the Warriors were dead…"** Kuli said aloud, slowly walking sideways, forming a slight curve as he kept his eyes moving across the trees.

" **She must have been lying, for you to be here…Sage."**

" _There's that…name again,"_ Tanya groaned as she slowly looked across at Isaac, raising her head weakly. The cracks in her visor were even more evident now, but Isaac didn't notice. His eyes were cast downward, focusing on his right leg.

One hand slowly ran down his upper leg, and he got to the knee when the pain flared up again and he grunted in pain. He pressed down faintly, and new pain rocked his system, as he felt, what should have been solid bone, press down further than it should.

He raised his head slightly from his knee, tasting a bit of blood on his lip as he glared at the back of Kuli's head. He was soon staring at nothing when a blue blur passed in front of them, throwing Kuli across the clearing and sending him rolling across the ground.

" _Matt?"_ Tanya asked, bewilderment in her gaze as the blur died down, revealing the blue-clad Warrior standing before them.

" _Hey guys. Finished getting your asses kick?"_ Matthew responded, looking over his shoulder.

" _Are the others…?"_ Tanya asked, before two blurs of black and white made themselves known, coming to a stop in front of the other Warriors. The blurs revealed Natalie and Kyle, both clad in their full Wolf Warrior armor.

" _How are you guys…I thought you were still too injured,"_ Tanya said, looking between Isaac and the others, seeing that Isaac wasn't going to ask these questions.

" _Savage gave us something to numb the pain,"_ Matthew responded, but before he could continue, Kuli snarled and ran at Matthew, simply relying on his claws instead of his blade.

Matthew turned and ran at Kuli, meeting the male wolf head on, but the momentum carried by Kuli sent the two flying to one side, as punches and kicks were thrown. Several were landed across Matthew's body, but his kicks and punches were not impended by the wolf's punches.

Natalie ran towards the fighting pair, and as she managed to tackle the male off her fellow Warrior, Kyle rushed over to Tanya and Isaac.

" _Lucky we found you when we did,"_ Kyle muttered as he crouched down, carefully placing his hands on Tanya's shoulders and moving her to sitting up properly. He reached one hand behind him, as Tanya slowly raised her head to look at Kyle.

" _W…Which one of you…was that first blur?"_ Tanya asked softly.

Kyle looked back at Tanya, and tilted his head to one side slightly. _"Uh…what blur? Must have hit your head or something."_

" _H…How are you guys here? I thought you were…were to hurt to fight?"_ Tanya asked, shaking her head wearily, glancing over at Isaac.

" _Savage gave us something to numb the pain. Pretty sure Matt already said that,"_ Kyle said, adding, _"Also, sorry."_

" _What are you s-Ah!"_ Tanya asked, before shouting out as something stabbed into her arm. She looked over at her side, seeing a strange-looking syringe in Kyle's hand, as he injected a strange, light green liquid into her.

" _This should numb the pain and give you energy to fight,"_ Kyle explained, as he pulled the needle from her arm, pressing a hand against where the needle passed through the armor, in case any blood escaped.

Tanya glared at Kyle through their visors, but like Kyle had said, the aches and pains she felt across her body suddenly start to ease off, and vanish entirely. She looked at her arms, slowly moving them; they didn't feel like lead anymore. They felt normal.

" _Come on. Get fighting - I'll have a look at Isaac,"_ Kyle said, offering a hand for Tanya to take. She took the offer, getting to her feet, slightly surprised she didn't fall over.

Looking over at the fight going on, Tanya rushed over, moving with such speed she looked like a yellow blur as she drew closer to the fight.

Kuli managed to push himself back from the Blue and White Warriors, and took a few steps back, baring his fangs. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Reliee slowly pushing herself to her feet, shaking off the stars from her vision.

" **Reliee, activate the Rogues!"** he barked.

Reliee looked over at the corner male, before she nodded slightly. She then ran off, vanishing into the trees before the Warriors had a chance to look exactly where she was going.

When Matthew turned to look back at the named she-wolf, Kuli kicked the Blue Warrior back, before throwing a punch at Natalie. The two were sent flying back, allowing the male to run off, vanishing into the forest.

Quickly getting back to his feet, Matthew went to run after the male, but Natalie held a hand in front of him. _"I'm guessing we'll have bigger problems to deal with,"_ she said, as a low rumbling began to vibrate through the ground.

" _I hate it when you're right,"_ Matthew muttered as the two looked back, just as Tanya did the same. Kyle looked up from looking over Isaac, and the four sets of eyes widened at the sight.

From the trees, a large mass of metal began to rise up - the once clean metal was now caked with dirt across all areas, barely allowing any fine detail to be seen. But there were some vague shapes that could be seen.

Such as the dark red eyes in the head, slanted slightly to give off an ever present angered glare. And the faint colors that lay beneath the layers of dirt - the main body seemed to be a tattered crimson, as more and more chunks of dirt fell. The left arm was colored with black, scratched metal, while the right side had silver as the base color.

" _I…Is that a…Megazord?"_ Tanya asked, looking back to the others.

" _Seems like it,"_ Matthew commented, before he raised his Howler to his helmet. _"Savage, we need the Zords. Turns out, we're not the only ones with them."_

" _They're on their way,"_ Savage responded before the comms were cut short.

" _Guys, Isaac is in no condition to fight. Even with_ Instinct, _he's not fit with his leg,"_ Kyle called, trying to keep Isaac's head and back straight against the tree. _"He's going to need to head back to the Den and have MUTT look him over."_

" _Pretty sure we can handle the Megazord with just us four,"_ Matthew said, before he raised his Howler again. _"MUTT, we need Isaac transported to the Den. We need him looked over."_

" _On it,"_ MUTT's voice responded, before Kyle stepped back. Isaac lifted his head slightly when Kyle stepped back, before he was enveloped in a dark red light and vanished moments later.

Just as Isaac vanished, their Zords arrived, coming a stop across the forest from the other Megazord. Metallic snarls ripped from their throats, baring their silver fangs threateningly.

" _Come on, guys,"_ Matthew said, with him and Tanya the first to step up and jump up, landing in their respective Zords cockpit.

Kyle and Natalie quickly followed, the four situated in their respective Zords, while the Red Alpha Zord remained empty of his controller. Despite this, the four were able to combine the five Zords together, forming the Megazord. The four stood in the combined cockpit, glancing at the empty space where Isaac usually stood.

" _Alright MUTT. See what you can tell us about this thing?"_ Kyle asked as the four pushed the Megazord forward, summoning the Wolf Tail Blade in the process.

In the other Megazord cockpit, Reliee stood in the black void, flexing her fingers slowly. "It's been a while since I've been here," she muttered under her breath, before lifting her eyes to look at the approaching Megazord.

She punched a screwed fist into her open palm, the Megazord copying her movements; dislodging more clumps of mud and dirt from the metal. As the hands slowly parted, a large black blade started to form between the hands, wrapping around the fingers and extending further. The end product resembled her personal blade, the Megazord copying her movements as she swung the blade around.

The two Megazords collided, their blades striking one another time and time again, the four Warriors blocking one strike with its other forearm when the sword missed the curved blade.

" _I've found something in the database on these Zords,"_ MUTT replied just as the Warriors landed a strike on the other Megazord.

" _And?"_ Tanya asked, the four pulling their sword back as the other Megazord recovered.

" _These Zords were the auxiliary Zords of the Red Warrior. But, a traitor turned them against the Warriors. They were dealt with accordingly,"_ MUTT explained as the humans blocked another attack, pushing their Megazord back a few steps, adjusting the grip on the sword.

" _They could prove useful, if they are able to be turned back,"_ Savage's voice cut in.

" _We'll do what we can. Don't hope for miracles,"_ Natalie replied, before the comms were cut off and the Warriors focused their efforts on the other approaching Megazord.

" _Come on guys. Let's show this bitch what we can do,"_ Tanya responded, cracking her knuckles briefly before the four pushed the Megazord forward, sending a strike across the torso quickly.

The sword connected, sparks flying as the Rogues' Megazord stumbled back, its chest smoldering from the recent strike, and the wolf heads across its shoulders snarled lowly. Inside, Reliee was trying to recover the Megazord, but found she was having a much harder time than she had anticipated.

Seeing the temporarily disorientation plaguing the Megazord, Tanya said, _"Quick! We need to attack now!"_

The others nodded and, dropping the Wolf Tail Blade, rushed at the other Megazord. Grabbing it around the waist, like a tackle, and brought it to the ground roughly. Reliee snarled lowly as her Megazord was tackled to the ground, glaring up at the other Megazord through the visor. She saw one fist getting pulled back, closed into a fist. She tried to bring one of her Megazord's arm across the body, but was too slow.

The punch connected, striking the head, rocking it violently, sending Reliee staggering slightly. Another strike connected, followed by another. And another. The more punches that connected, the heavier the Megazord's body felt to Reliee.

She looked up again when the Megazord raised both hands, holding them together firmly, ready to bring another blow onto the already battered Megazord.

All of the Warriors shouted out, and brought their combined fists down, bringing their Megazords' fists down on the central head over the chest of the pinned Megazord. This created a large dent, and sparks to fly from the joints in the shoulders. Loud howls of pain escaped the Megazord, as the whole body began to shake.

The four quickly pulled their Megazord to its feet, taking a few steps back as the other Megazord exploded into a blighting sheen of light.

Reliee shouted out as sparks behind to fly down from all around her, as she tried to make her escape from the cockpit. But just as she made for the escape, large steel supports came crashing down, both in front of her and over her. She screamed, clawing at the steel, trying to get it off of her leg.

Sparks continued to rain down as the Megazord tore itself, but Reliee remained pinned. She stared at the visor of the Megazord with wide eyes, yet her teeth were bared as blood slowly trickled down her muzzle.

"May Zeta have mercy on your soul," She growled, as flames enveloped the cockpit entirely.

By the time the light vanished, three Zords lay scattered across the forest, lying limp. One small red one, one small silver, and a much larger black one.

" _Where did that wolf go?"_ Kyle asked, looking across slowly as he tried to catch sight of the she-wolf pilot. But none of the Warriors noticed any grey flashes pass through the forest.

" _Either way, we got what we came for,"_ Matthew said, before he tapped his Howler, _"MUTT, we've got the Zords. They're out. What do you want us to do with them?"_

" _Just leave us with them. We'll see what we can do to turn them back,"_ MUTT replied.

* * *

Kuli rushed through the forest, jumping over fallen trees and dodging still standing ones, trying to put as much difference between himself and those damn Warriors. Cowardly, yes, but it would buy him more time.

He eventually came to a stop beside a set of trees, leaning back against them momentarily to catch his breath. His species had larger lungs than that of a humans, but since he had been kind of dead for the past couple of thousand years, he hadn't breathed this heavily in a while.

He leaned over slightly, creating small grooves in the wood with his sharpened claws, as a low growl slipped passed his fangs.

" **How long were you following me?"** He asked, seemingly to no-one, as he turned around.

Immediately, he was met with a sharpened blade piercing his chest, electing a low growl of pain to escape Kuli. The sharpened blade pierced right through the body of the wolf, embedding itself in the tree behind him. Blood began flowing from the large cut, as internal organs were shredded and sliced, like a waterfall of crimson.

" _Long enough,"_ Came a voice in return, as the blade holder twisted the blade slightly, cutting further into the body of Kuli.

Kuli gagged slightly, blood escaping out of the corner of his muzzle, trickling through his thick fur. Despite this, a smirk twitched at the corner of his muzzle, spreading more blood across his cheek.

" **Back to the old ways, eh, Sage?"** Kuli growled, one clawed hand unclasping from the tree bark and rested on the attackers' shoulder. But they quickly shifted their shoulder back, out of Kuli's reach.

His arm slowly fell limp, resting at his side as more blood escaped his body, coating both the blade and the ground beneath where the two of them stood.

A low, gargled chuckle escaped Kuli, before his face loosened, and his body fell limp against the tree. The attacker swiftly pulled the blade back, removing it from Kuli's body. The body slumped against the ground, eventually falling to the side, falling onto his back.

The attacker looked at Kuli's body for a few seconds, before they turned and walked away, cleaning the blood off their large curved blade.

* * *

"Where the hell are Frank and Rogers?" Sherriff Anderson asked, standing in the main foyer of the hospital, a few pairs of officers standing around. The rest of the pairs had returned from their patrols in and around the hospital, all except one pair.

"Sorry sir!"

Anderson turned to look at jogging pair of Rogers and Frank, quickly moving down the corridor towards the foyer.

"I told you to report in at thirteen hundred. Where the hell have you been?" Anderson quickly responded, stepping towards the more senior of the pair.

Rogers responded, "Sorry, sir. We lost track of time, we were investigating one of the rooms. Won't happen any sir."

Anderson glanced between the two, before he leaned back and relaxed slightly. "Very well. Besides, we've got to get going - the 13th Division is here."

The two new officers glanced aside, and saw a couple of people with their backs to them outside of the hospital. From what they could see, they wore dark grey bulletproof vests over black combat trousers and tops. They seemed to be carrying some sort of rifle, but from their angle, they couldn't make out the particular type.

The two nodded, and followed the other officers out of the hospital. Though Frank paused momentarily, rubbing one of his temples, shaking his head slightly, before he quickly caught up and left with the other officers.


	8. Episode 7 - The Yellow Streak, Part 1

Episode 7 – The Yellow Streak

Tanya slipped the key into the lock and turned it slowly, the normally silent turn of the key sounded like columns of metal striking against each other with her sensitive hearing. She shook her head slightly, as she pulled the key and grabbed the handle. Slowly, she turned the handle and stepped through the door, mindful where she stepped. That creaking floorboard would be the death of her one day…

Now fully in the apartment, she turned and closed the door, the handle turned fully, and carefully turning it back into place. She let go, and turned around.

The lights suddenly flickered on and made her freeze, her eyes darting to the corridor, and she winced internally.

A finger pressed on the light switch, her sister stood. A light pink dressing gown wrapped around her, with her long blonde hair suffering from a serious case of bed hair. A pair of glasses sat on her nose, behind a pair of annoyed eyes.

"Uh..." Tanya started, but her sister raised her hand.

"Keep it short. I want to know where you were, and what the _hell_ you were doing to just arrive at half-past midnight," Her sister, Nicole, cut in flatly.

It was at times like this Tanya really noticed how the two of them were sisters.

"Look…I was with my friends, and we had to go to the hospital after one of them did a stupid stunt and broke his leg," Tanya explained, straightening her posture slowly.

She wasn't being _too_ far from the truth…

Nicole rolled her eyes, pinching the bridge of her nose. "I don't want to know what you've been doing for one of your friends to break their leg." A moment of silence followed, before she half-heartedly added, "Are they OK?"

"He'll be fine," Tanya answered shortly.

Nicole nodded, and fell silent once again. As silence filled the hallway, Tanya noticed how Nicole seemed to rub her other arm slowly, and side glanced occasionally. "Something wrong?" Tanya asked, taking a small step closer.

Her sister looked over at Tanya again, before she sighed lowly. "I.. Fredrick was here."

 _That_ caught Tanya off guard - her eyes widened, and she dropped her jacket. "What?" She asked quietly. "How did _he_ find us?"

"I don't know.. I don't know," Nicole responded, before she held a hand out to stop Tanya speaking. Her mouth was open to respond, but quickly closed. "I called the police, and he was gone before they turned up."

"Have they tried looking for him?" Tanya asked sharply.

"I've filed a complaint, and they're working on getting it done," Nicole replied quickly.

"Look, it's late. And I don't want to wake up in six hours to have the land lord knocking at our door with noise complaints," Nicole added, gesturing down the hallway. "Get some sleep, and we'll talk more in the morning."

Tanya wanted to ask so many more questions, but she couldn't put her words together and settled on, "Fine. Goodnight."

Nicole slowly nodded, and headed down the corridor, followed by her sister as they went to their separate rooms. Tanya paused momentarily when entering her room, looking over to Nicole until she closed the door behind her.

Tanya entered her room shortly after, closing the door behind her and leaning back against the wall next to her door. She screwed her hand into fists, and had to fight with all her will to try and punch a hole in her wall.

And with the Howler, she was pretty sure it would be easier to accomplish now.

She wanted to do so many things - scream, shout, throw stuff around... But she knew she couldn't. She'd just have to wait until the morning to do anything. Not even bothering to change, Tanya approached her bed and flopped onto it, rubbing her eyes. She tried to relax.

She glanced at her clock, seeing the digital display of _12:27,_ before she closed her eyes and tried to will herself to sleep.

* * *

The next time she glanced at the clock, its read _06:53._ She amazed herself that she was able to sleep for over six hours straight with those thoughts swirling around her head.

Tanya pushed herself up, but remained quiet, wanting to test how good her sensitive hearing was. Despite the relatively thick walls of the apartment, she could hear the low snoring Nicole produced. A sure fire sign that she was still asleep.

Slowly getting out of her bed, she headed down the corridor quietly and took a quick shower.

As she stood in the shower, washing her hair slowly, the thoughts about what Nicole had said last night started to grow louder again. Her hands slowed through her hair as the memories around that name, _Fredrick,_ and had to pull them free of her hair as she screwed them into fists.

She pounded the glass surround of the shower, grunting in frustration. The glass spider-webbed around her fists, cracks running in completely random directions around the point of impact.

Breathing deeply, she calmed herself and took note of her handiwork. "Shit," She muttered, before she quickly turned the water off and stepped out.

Returning to her room, she quickly dried herself off and found some fresh clothes in the wardrobe. Checking the time, which read just _07:12,_ she made some small adjustments to her hair and added a grey hoodie over her light red top.

Zipping it up, she lifted the hoodie over her head and headed for the door. She did the same as last night - slowly and smoothly opened the door, stepped out, and closed it behind her, double checking that she locked the door.

Stuffing her hands into the hoodie pockets, she turned and walked towards the stairs to get out of the set of apartments. She eventually reached the bottom of the stairs and pushed the door open, entering the grimly-colored outside.

The overcast clouds seemed to mirror Tanya's mood right now.

She walked a few paces, before coming a stop. It just occurred to her that her friends, at least if they were sane, were still sound asleep at this time. Last she heard, Isaac was still in the Den, being monitored by MUTT and Savage, and the others had returned to their homes shortly after regrouping at the Den.

At the thought, she figured her best bet to blow off some steam was to head to the Den. She side glanced done both sides of the sidewalk, before quickly making her way towards a little side alley beside the apartment complex.

Once sure she was by herself, she rolled her sleeve up and tapped a few buttons on her Howler. Instantly, she was enveloped in a dark yellow light and vanished.

* * *

" _You're up here rather early,"_ MUTT commented as Tanya walked from the column of yellow light as it vanished from the Den. The Yellow Warrior shrugged slightly, leaning against one of the desks loaded with computer components.

"Had nothing better to do and figured I should try and blow off so steam," Tanya responded as she looked over at the robot, who turned away from the monitor he was working at to look at the human.

" _Savage is currently sleeping at the moment, but you are fine to wait until he wakes up,"_ MUTT said, turning his attention back to the monitor.

"What are you working on?" Tanya asked, leaning over the desk to try and get a better look at the monitor. From her angle, it looked like a mass of green blurs running up the screen at a pace her eyes couldn't keep up with.

" _I'm working on reprogramming the Rogue Zords we acquired from the Rogue Wolves yesterday. I've been working throughout the night already to get them rebooted, but it's only 27% through the process,"_ MUTT answered, his fingers moving rapidly across the keyboard.

"So, you've been doing this," Tanya gestured to the monitor, "All night, and you're just above quarter of the way there? Jesus…" She stepped back. "At this rate, it'll take you days to do it."

" _My orders are to get these Zords reprogrammed back onto our side,"_ MUTT said, looking aside at Tanya momentarily, and said, _"Any particular reason why you couldn't sleep?"_

Drumming her fingers over her arm slowly, Tanya turned and walked away a few steps, before she walked around the circular command center of the main area of the Den, and stepping up to join MUTT.

"Just.. family issues," Tanya responded, leaning against the desk, finally lowering her hoodie again, rubbing her hair to get it back into a presentable manner.

" _Is that what you humans would consider a 'vague answer'?"_ MUTT responded, his lack of tone making it hard to figure out if he was trying to be serious or joking. Then again, with him being a robot, emotions weren't his strong point.

Tanya rolled her eyes and said, "Some people would consider it vague, yeah."

" _Any particular reason for being vague?"_

"I don't like talking about it. Bad history," Tanya said, looking away from MUTT.

"We all have bad history." Both Tanya and MUTT looked aside at the new voice, seeing Savage walking through an open door, which slid close behind him. His hands held together behind him, the sleeves of his standard trench coat rolled up to his elbows. "Some worse than others, but we all have one," Savage added, approaching the central column and turning on another monitor, the same blurs of green code appearing on his screen.

"Good progress, MUTT," Savage said, before turning around to look at Tanya. "You're up here early," he added.

"So I've been told," Tanya responded flatly in response.

Savage glanced at Tanya again, before he asked, "So, issues with your blood?"

Tanya simply nodded. "It's my.. father," She made it sound like calling him that left a bad taste in her mouth. "He's back in town. Not sure why, but I don't want anything to do with him. He cheated on my mom a couple of years back and ran out with the skank."

"Adultery," Savage commented softly, leaning against the desk as he listened, idly scratching an itch under his muzzle. "In my time, if a mated male was caught, doing the unspeakable, with a female other than his mate, his mate had the choice of punishment. It usually consisted of a vicious beating, and banishment from the clan."

"There are laws preventing things like that," Tanya said.

"Back in my time, those _were_ the Laws," Savage pressed, adding, "Either way, you cannot allow this to happen. He must not be allowed to get away with this."

Tanya remained quiet for a few moments, before she said, "Look, I came here to try and work off some steam. Reckon we can do some training?"

Savage nodded, before he paused and said, "That reminds me…" He turned and quickly moved away, leaving MUTT and Tanya to themselves again.

She looked over at the robot, asking, "Where's he going?"

" _You'll see shortly,"_ Was MUTT's response.

Tanya shook her head with a low chuckle, just as another door slid open from the opposite side of the room Savage vanished. She looked towards the door, and saw, "Isaac," She greeted.

The Red Warrior nodded in return as he carefully limped out of the door frame, mindful of the leg brace-like device around his leg, immobilizing the lower leg from the knee to the ankle. But other than that, along with the slight limp, he looked relatively normal.

"Tanya," He greeted, limping up to the central column, only struggling the faintest bit when tasted with getting his immobilized leg over the edge. He succeeded, without help, and leaned against a desk opposite the other two. "I swore I heard Savage. Where's he gone?"

"No idea," Tanya responded, before gesturing to his leg, "How's the leg?"

"Annoying, more than anything," Isaac said, looking down at his leg too, before adding, "It's fine. That Instinct thing really helps."

"Just don't get addicted to that stuff," Tanya said with a smirk.

"Come on, Matt's got a better chance than I do," Isaac replied dryly.

Tanya chuckled and rolled her eyes, before the door opened again and Savage reappeared. Only this time, he was carrying something in one hand, and resting it over his shoulder.

Isaac and Tanya's eyes both widened and tensed up slightly. For the briefest moment, they were brought back to the fight with Kuli, Reliee and Licos, but they were quickly brought back to the present as Savage stopped in front of the pair.

"I overheard that you wanted a different weapon to your bow," Savage said, taking the item he carried off his shoulder and held it in both hands. The two humans saw it clearly now, the same curved blade that Reliee was armed with when they fought them.

"So, when MUTT recovered both sets of Zords, we managed to recover this as well," Savage said, one claw tracing over the sharpened edge of the blade, before he slowly turned the blade around to offer the handles to Tanya.

Tanya glanced over to Isaac, who shrugged slightly and gestured for her to take the weapon. She turned back to look at Savage, before she slowly extended her hands forward and slipped them around the handles within the blade.

Savage slowly let go, and almost immediately, Tanya nearly dropped the weapon due to the sudden weight.

"We'll need some training to get you used to the new weapon," Savage said, as Isaac had to keep from chuckling at Tanya trying to keep the weapon up.

"Yep, she's going to need it," Isaac commented with a smirk, receiving a glare from Tanya in response.

"With me," Savage said, gesturing for Tanya to follow him, as he headed towards one of the doors of the Den. Tanya followed after Savage, eventually supporting the back of the blade against her shoulder to carry it properly.

Once the two had left, Isaac turned to look at MUTT, who was still facing the monitor, and asked, "So…I need you to check something for me."

" _I'm busy right now, Isaac. I will answer your query when I've finished processing this section of the reprogramming,"_ MUTT responded.

"I just need you to check if there's anyone else like us active," Isaac asked, adding, "We were saved by something, and it wasn't any of the others." MUTT side glanced at Isaac, but remained silent. Isaac rolled his eyes and leaned against the desk.

* * *

"What are you doing, Fear?"

The male Demon Warlord glanced over his shoulder, turning around more to look over his shoulder armor. His cold eyes landed on the she-Demon, her arms folded over her chest and tapping her foot on the ground of their domain.

"Nothing of your concern," Fear replied, as he turned to look back at the green-and-black viewing orb, and returned to what he had been doing before being rudely interrupted. His fingers moving, like he were typing on one of those strange human devices they all seemed to have at desks, his eyes focused solely on the viewing orb.

Batibat rolled her eyes and slowly walked around the orb, getting a look at what Fear was doing. All she saw was a pair of fleshy human hands, as they tapped away at a strange device with all sorts of letters and symbols across it. The human's finger movements seemed to be mirroring Fear's, as they glided over the device.

"What are you doing, Fear?" Batibat inquired, stepping closer to get a look the viewing orb.

"Something that concerns me and not you," Fear responded, his tone flat, as he remained focused on the orb.

" _ **Fear!"**_

The two Warlords visibly flinched at the sudden, booming voice, and Fear turned around briskly.

"Yes, Master?" Fear said, turning to face the pendant topping the podium. The evil energy radiated off of the jewel.

" _ **What are you doing?"**_

"Master," Fear started, clasping his hands behind his back. "I have been working on trying to figure out the mentor to the newest group of Warriors. However, I have had little success in looking for the mentor directly. So, I have been looking towards finding out the identity of the Warriors. And Master," Fear said, stepping forward slowly, "I have seen something.. worrying..."

He brought his hands out from behind his back, and snapped both his fingers. Immediately, several different orbs ripped through the atmosphere around them, displaying several images. They all shared similar traits though.

Despite the green tint to the orbs, different colored-clad Warriors stood, some with explosions paused in the background. Some orbs showed groups of five, some showed groups of three. There were even a few with three standing side-by-side.

"Master, there are more than the just the Warriors we have dealt with before. There have been many, _many_ groups like the ones we've fought."

"The Animarium Warriors…" Batibat muttered quietly, as she looked towards one orb in particular. It sported six Warriors, clad in bright colors, but with a very familiar symbol on their belts.

" _ **Your point, Fear?"**_ The Master's voice resonated throughout the chamber.

"My point Master, is that we have the possibility of dealing with more Warriors than just the five Ancient Ones. I will do more research on the matter, Master," Fear assured.

A short silence followed, before the Master spoke again. _**"Very well, Fear. Do what you must to gather the information."**_

"I am already doing so Master," Fear said, bowing slightly. "I have turned two of the humans into my…puppets, as it were. I have them working on gathering as much information regarding the many groups of Warriors as possible."

" _ **Good…Good…"**_ The Master's voice said, before the invisible gaze seemed to shift over to Batibat. **"** _ **Gather a Demon and travel to the Human Realm, Batibat. I must be released - immediately."**_

"Yes, my Master," Batibat said, nodding and bowing slightly, though side glanced at Fear with an annoyed look. The male Warlord simply turned his back on his fellow Demon and removed the other viewing orbs from the area. His focus was solely on the original orb. Batibat glared back at Fear as the Master's essence returned into the gem, drawing more darkness into the chamber.

"I was looking into who the Mentor was," Batibat hissed as she stormed over to Fear. He turned to face her when she reached him, the two standing nearly toe-to-toe.

"The Master has chosen another. You have been.. demoted," Fear said, a blank look in his cold eyes, but his lips were curled into a smirk.

Batibat glared at him further, before she harshly whispered, "You're stepping a very fine line, Fear."

With that, she briskly turned and approached the Demon Wall. Without even looking, she swiped her hand across a brick, and snapped the first finger and thumb of her other hand. This summoned a portal in front of her, and she walked through it the moment it fully formed.

As she vanished through the portal, Fear side glanced and muttered, "Petty…"

* * *

"Show me what you've got."

Tanya looked to Savage as the wolf stepped aside, gesturing to the tree she stood in front of. She looked back at said tree, adjusting the grip she had on her new weapon. In her armored form, she had a better hold on the weapon, but it still required more effort than her bow to wield.

Adjusting the grip on the handles slightly, Tanya brought the weapon down against the tree, hoping to make a clean cut in the bark. But it couldn't have been any more different from the result.

A large chunk of tree had been broken off from the rest of the tree, while the blade itself became wedge in the tree. The sudden stop vibrated up the blade, eventually working its way into Tanya, rocketing up her arms. She instinctively let go, leaving the blade stationary in the wood.

Shaking her hands slowly, Tanya side glanced at Savage and muttered, _"Laugh and I'll rip your tail off."_

"Firstly, good luck trying," Savage stated, stepping past Tanya and putting his hand through the grip. With a swift tug, he dislodged it from the tree and carried it, blunt end, against his shoulder. He turned back to Tanya, and added, "Secondly, I'm here to give you advice and train you. Insulting is standard as well."

Tanya rolled her eyes - though Savage couldn't tell from her helmet being in the way - as Savage adjusted his hold on the weapon and gripped it with both hands.

"Allow me to demonstrate," Savage said, his sharp ears flicking around slightly, as his eyes focused solely on the tree. The weight of the weapon shifted from one hand to the other, allowing his left hand to lead.

Tanya watched as Savage focused solely on the tree, stepping back. From her experience, people who focused hard, they often forgot about those around them…

She was brought back to reality by the sound of air getting cut, and saw the blade slice cleanly through the bark. All that was left was a single, large gash in the defenseless tree.

Savage quickly brought the weapon around, and struck the same level from the other side. The latest cut landed barely half an inch below the first strike. He kept the weapon steady as he stood still, his eyes closed and breathing slowly.

"That.. is how it's done," Savage said slowly, adjusting his stance to stand properly, bringing the weapon up to rest on his shoulder again.

" _Jesus, Savage,"_ Tanya commented, _"You sure you're not a fighter? You say you've learnt Healing methods, but you're pretty good at fighting."_

"I learnt," Savage replied simply, pushing the blade off his shoulder and offering it for Tanya. She reached forward and took the weapon by the one handle, taking the other handle when Savage let go fully.

She brought the weapon to rest on her shoulder, remaining silent. She glanced over at Savage again, and she said, _"Savage?"_

"Hmm?" The wolf responded.

"… _Who were Sage and Yei?"_

At this question, Savage's ears perked up fully and his tail lashed behind him. He quickly corrected the movement, and looked back at Tanya. "Where did you hear those names?"

" _Those Wolves mentioned them. Quite a lot, actually,"_ Tanya said, taking note of the sudden stiffness in Savage.

Exhaling slowly through his nose, Savage turned to fully face Tanya; though it was subtle, she saw a strange look in the wolf's eye.

"Sage and Yei were…they were the Original Red Alpha and Yellow Gamma Warriors, respectively," Savage explained.

" _That would explain why they said it when they saw us,"_ Tanya mused quietly, but quickly silenced herself, in case Savage was going to add anything else. Which he did.

"They were also mates."

Tanya blinked under her visor, using her free hand to unclasp her helmet and lift it off her head. "Really? Mates?"

Savage simply nodded. "No pups though," Savage added softly. Another unnecessary detail, perhaps.

"Did you know them well?" Tanya asked lowly.

Savage's ears flicked back slightly, before he shook his head. "Not as well as I should have." Shaking his head, he growled lowly to himself before he said, "This is training, not a history lesson. Come on, do exactly as I did. Now!"

Tanya ever so slightly flinched at the sharp tone, but nodded. She quickly adjusted her hold on her helmet, and replaced it on her head. With a small _hiss,_ the helmet locked into place, and she held the blade in both hands once again.

She drew closer to the tree again, and tried to copy the movements she had seen Savage do.

* * *

"C'mon, MUTT. I just need you to help me with this," Isaac pressed, nudging the robot's shoulder slightly. But MUTT remained silent, solely focusing on the task of reprogramming the Zords. Isaac had lost track of how far MUTT was through, but he didn't really care that much.

Rolling his eyes, Isaac side glanced at one of the free monitors and computers, and after quickly looking back at MUTT, limped over to it. Carefully tapping the keyboard, Isaac muttered, "Alright, I can figure out how this works…"

He barely rested both sets of fingers on the keys when MUTT said, _"Please refrain from touching that machine."_

"Why?" Isaac questioned.

" _That is the machine I use to activate the Zords when you need them. Once misstep and you're sending the Zords into the city. From what I've seen on your human News, you already have bad press."_

"You saw, huh?" Isaac asked, turning around to face MUTT instead of the monitor.

" _I was updating my database of the current era and, since you five were chosen, you've become more and more relevant every time you're seen."_

Isaac nodded slowly, adding, "I mean, it's not like we're the first team to cause massive amount of damage to our home town. I mean, did you see about the time where all those aliens nearly destroyed the Earth about twenty years ago?"

" _I discovered that, yes,"_ MUTT replied. Silence followed this comment for a few seconds, before a sudden alarm went off and one of the monitors, beside the one Isaac was going to use, flashed red.

"I didn't do it!" Isaac said, quickly stepping aside and raised his hands.

MUTT quickly paused the reprogramming of the Zords and moved over to the monitor flashing red, and tapped the keyboard.

" _Demons have been sighted, with one of the Warlords,"_ MUTT said.

"Which one?" Isaac asked, looking over MUTT's shoulder.

" _Batibat."_

"That bitch?"

MUTT nodded, adding, _"It appears they have appeared in the industrial estate, which is still under repair from the last time they were there."_

"What the hell do they want to accomplish there?" Isaac muttered, leaning over to look at the monitor; but it made no sense to him. How MUTT made sense of it, he had no idea.

" _Get Tanya and Savage, I'll get the others,"_ MUTT said, moving one hand to another keyboard and tapping away.

Isaac nodded slowly, before he slowly walked off the central podium and towards the exit of the Den.

* * *

Isaac slowly limped up the small hill, approaching the area where he knew Savage and Tanya were training - the same spot where Savage had kicked all five of their asses 'training' them. Plus, he was guided by the sound of wood breaking and the cutting of air.

When he eventually reached the crest of the hill, Isaac glanced back momentarily to look at the view of Pax Valley that the position of the Den provided; he could see the entirety of the city, the skyscrapers that were still standing, catching the light of the morning sun, just right.

He quickly turned back around, however, when the sound of wood breaking could be heard again. He resumed walking, and it didn't take him long to come across the two.

Savage was standing to one side, nodding his head slowly, seemingly in approval, as Tanya was slicing across a tree. Looking around the clearing, Isaac saw that several trees had layers and layers of cuts across the bark, small chunks of wood littering the ground around each of the marked trees.

Isaac noticed Savage's ears swivel slowly around to face him, and soon Savage himself turned to look at Isaac. He looked back to Tanya and said, "We'll have to cut this lesson short."

Tanya looked at Savage, before she turned around more and saw Isaac. She straightened herself, bringing the curved blade up to rest on her shoulder. " _What's up, Isaac?"_ Tanya asked.

Isaac blinked at Tanya momentarily, before he shook his head and said, "Something's come up. Batibat's turned up."

" _The bitch?"_ Tanya asked.

"Yep."

"Where have they appeared?" Savage asked, stepping forward towards Isaac.

"MUTT said in the industrial area, the same place they've already been," Isaac informed, gesturing behind him.

"Did he say he'd get the others?" Savage asked as he walked past Isaac, heading down the same path he had just come up from.

"Yep," Isaac confirmed.

"You two better get going then," Savage add, before half looking back and gesturing to Tanya. "We'll work on further training, but for now, you're good to fight."

Tanya nodded, and Savage walked off. This left the two humans by themselves for a few seconds.

" _So, we gonna get going?"_ Tanya asked, seeing Isaac staring her momentarily.

He quickly straightened his gaze, saying, "Ye.. Yeah…" He quickly raised his Howler across his chest and pressed the central button. Instantly, the Howler lit up and growled lowly.

"United, we Howl!" Seconds and a quick flash of light later, Isaac was morphed and ready to go.

" _Let's get going,"_ Isaac said, tapping another button on his Howler. The two were enveloped in light and teleported away, into the city.

* * *

"This is.. different," Batibat mused.

She had been expecting to arrive in the Human Realm with no resistance upon arrival, and she'd be able to waltz into the densely populated city.

Instead, however, she had barely been in the Human Realm five of their minutes before several large metal carts came towards them at speed. They hadn't fully stopped moving before several humans came swarming out of the carts, all wearing black armor and clothes, and full face helmets. They were armed with strange-looking metal weapons, and formed up.

"Do not move!" One of the soldiers, presumably, the commander, as the groups of soldiers made movements with their weapons, a strange clicking sound echoing from them.

Batibat simply raised an eyebrow, an amused smirk crossing across her lips. "Humans…" She mused under her breath, before she snapped a pair of fingers and faced the palm of her hand forward.

Black-and-green smoke formed around her hand, before it quickly extended forward, a great roar echoing from the smoke, as a shape started to form within the expanding energy.

Four of the 13th Division soldiers quickly moved out of the way, the smoke roaring past them and colliding into the side of one of the SWAT-like vans. The sheer force of the impact sent the van flying backwards, flipping onto its side and skidded across the concrete.

Sparks flew as metal skidded across concrete, before it finally ended when it collided with the side of one of the buildings. Smoke started to escape from the van's underside, but that was the least of the soldiers' worries.

With wisps of black-and-green smoke sticking to the prominent horns extending out the sides of the Demon's head, curling down to its neck, before curling back up to end about eye level. What they lacked in size, the sharpened ends made up for it. And judging from the different tones of dried red on the ends, others had paid the price.

Snorting lowly, the dark white eyes of the horned Demon turned to rest on a couple of the soldiers, who were aiming their rifles at the Demon. Without waiting for an order, one of the soldiers fired a few shots, aimed directly at the Demon's face.

But they proved to be ineffective, simply mushrooming and falling from the ground. The commanding officer shouted for him to cease fire, but it was proved to be too late.

The Demon, despite not receiving injuries, roared viciously, the sound echoing throughout the estate, before it turned its demonic glare at the one solider.

Despite their attempts to get out of the way, two of the soldiers, including the shooter, were back-handed by the large, clawed hand of the Demon. The force of the impact sent the two flying backwards, colliding into the side of one of the other vans they arrived in.

As they lay crumbled against the side of a building, their limbs twisted at odd angles and blood soaking through the armor they wore, the Demon turned to face the other soldiers, who had formed on two sides of it, aiming at the Demon.

Though a sudden flash of color caught the corner of its eyes, and it turned around. Only to be met with a sudden force to the face, sending it reeling back from the force. As it stumbled back, snarling, its eyes turned sharply to rest on the standing figure, clad in red armor, with black and silver accents.

" _Hey Fugly,"_ Isaac commented, his stance somewhat relaxed as he summoned his sword, flicking it up to bring the back edge to rest against his shoulder.

Batibat took note of the pesky Warrior, and went to step forward. Only to stop when a flash of yellow came to a stop before her.

" _Remember me, bitch?"_ Tanya asked, a sharp edge to her tone, as she stood fully, bringing her newly acquired curved weapon in front of her defensively.

The She-Demon narrowed her eyes at the supposedly insulting name, but she simply stood higher and glared hard at the Yellow Warrior. "I will finish what I should have done so last time we fought," She hissed, drawing two, pure-black daggers from behind her.

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the remaining Warriors stand beside the Red Warrior, drawing their own weapons, but right now, she was focused on the Yellow Warrior. With another hiss, she rushed forward, aiming to strike at the Yellow Warrior's helmet. But the curved blade blocked the attacks, as Tanya shifted into a better fighting stance, and returned with an attack of her own.

" _How come Tanya gets a new weapon?"_ Kyle asked, as the four of them attacked the horned Demon.

Only to get knocked back by a single backhand, sending them flying into the sides of buildings, creating more cracks running up the sides of the buildings.

" _More importantly,"_ Natalie asked, rolling her neck slowly as she groaned. _"Did we just get bitch slapped by this fucker?"_

" _I think we just did,"_ Matthew responded dryly, pushing himself to his feet and rushing at the horned Demon. Though before he could reach the Demon, he noticed that the armored soldiers they had interrupted were still in the area. If anything, they were trying to form an attack. _"Hey, one of you guys mind dealing with those armored assholes before they get themselves killed?"_

" _Do we have to?"_ Kyle questioned.

" _Thanks for volunteering Kyle,"_ Isaac said as he rushed past the Black Warrior, throwing a punch at the hanging jaw of the Demon.

Kyle went to say something in respond, but ran over in his words and eventually grunted in frustration. " _Fine,"_ He grunted, before he quickly ran, turning into a blur of black with a bit of silver, as he moved towards the 13th Division soldiers.

" _Yo, guys,"_ Kyle said after coming to a stop, skidding along the ground briefly to stand before the group of 13th Division soldiers. They all flinched and raised their rifles to aim at the Black Ranger.

Kyle instinctive raised his hands at first, before realization came over him and he lowered his hands again. _"You need to get your asses out of here before any more of you get killed,"_ He said, gesturing behind him, to a pair of soldiers helping the two bloody bodies away from where they came to rest.

The soldiers looked between themselves, seemingly amused, before one spoke up. "We don't take orders from the likes of you."

" _Well, you really should,"_ Kyle said, rolling his eyes under his helmet and folding his arms across his chest; the arm-braces that acted as his weapons made it a bit difficult for it to be comfortable, but he had bigger things to worry about. _"Since you have zero fucking knowledge on what you're dealing with."_

At that very moment, Matthew was thrown across street, tumbling a few times before landing on his feet, sliding to a stop after digging his feet into the ground, creating inch-deep grooves in the solid tarmac. _"That was a lucky shot,"_ He said when he saw Kyle looking at him. Even with the helmets, he could _feel_ the judgmental look Kyle was giving him.

Kyle rolled his eyes slightly, before side glancing at the soldiers. _"Last warning, get out before we make you leave."_

One of the soldiers looked ready to throw a punch at Kyle, but another soldier quickly grabbed ahold of their shoulder, shaking their head when the first soldier looked back at him.

Shaking his own head, Kyle eventually turned and rushed back to the fight, vanishing in a blur of black and silver, joining in with the other Rangers. The soldiers glanced among themselves, before the commanding officer gave orders. Reluctantly, they all piled into the two remaining trucks, being careful for their wounded.

* * *

Isaac ducked to avoid one of the flying horns of the Demon, quickly moving aside and adjusting his stance to keep up with the Demon. Natalie and Matthew were trying to land strikes on the Demon's back and sides while it was distracted by Isaac.

This didn't work, however.

The Demon, irritated by the constant attacks by its sides, turned and punched Matthew first, then Natalie, before finally back handing Isaac. The three flew back, though Kyle managed to avoid getting knocked back by Natalie's body and rushed at the Demon.

Reeling one primed hand back, Kyle skidded to a stop just before the Demon and threw a punch that should have knocked the Demon back at least a few feet. But no.

Instantly, one of the Demon's hands firmly clasped around Kyle's fist, and quickly applied pressure. It wasn't long before Kyle was shouting out in pain and crumbling to one knee, gritting his teeth under the helmet. He wasn't a scientist, but he was sure that his hand was broken by this point.

" _Kyle!"_ Matthew shouted, quickly pushing himself to his feet and ran at the two, throwing his spear as he ran.

The spear connected, digging into the toughened skin of the Demon, causing it to snarl and turn its beady eyes to the approaching Blue Warrior. This made it release Kyle's limp hand, and scattered the Black Warrior aside.

Meanwhile, Batibat and Tanya had somehow managed to find themselves fighting on top of one of the lower buildings, exchanging and blocking sword and dagger strikes with neither landing firm blows.

"You really think you are anywhere close to facing the Master?" Batibat sneered, the two currently locked in their weapons, their faces close together, glaring at one another.

" _I'm kicking your ass, aren't I?"_ Tanya replied dryly, causing Batibat to raise her eyebrow slightly.

She quickly pushed the two of them apart and aimed a kick at the she-Demon's undefended legs. Her eyes widening, Batibat stumbled slightly at the sudden attack, quickly drawing her weapons close to her.

Hissing lowly, Batibat rushed at Tanya, throwing one dagger first before following the attack up with a punch with her free hand.

While she was able to deflect the dagger, sending it flying off the side of the building, Tanya barely dodged the incoming punch, the clenched fist flying past her helmet and the sharpened nails skimming the yellow color across the side of the helmet.

Freeing one hand, Tanya grabbed a fistful of Batibat's smoky clothing and, using the position they were in, flung Batibat over her and across the roof.

The Demon rolled a couple of times across the gravel-covered roof, eventually landing on her front and coming to a stop. She raised her head slightly, her normally smooth, long hair ruffled somewhat and a small bit of strangely-dark green blood out of the corner of her lips. Yet, despite getting floored, a smirk cross her lips.

" _What are you grinning at?"_ Tanya snapped, approaching Batibat slowly, holding the blade defensively as she drew closer.

Batibat, still smirking, glanced from Tanya's helmet to her torso. This caused Tanya to glance at her side, and her eyes widened.

Sticking out of her side, somehow penetrating the suit of armor, was Batibat's other dagger, the slightly crooked blade wedged about two and a half inches into her, with blood slowly squeezing through the small gap between the dagger and the torn suit.

Breathing slightly harder, one of Tanya's hands flew down her side, and tried to pull the dagger from her side. Instantly, however, pain rocked through her and forced her to crumble to one knee as the dagger attack started to catch up with her brain.

A quick shuffling sound came from in front of her, and she raised her head, just in time to have Batibat's knee collide with the bottom of her helmet. The attack resulted in her head rapidly, before Batibat rushed and tackled the stunned Tanya, running the two of them to the side.

This ended up with them reaching the edge of her building and falling off the roof. The two landed on the gravel surrounding the building, electing a shout of pain to come from the already injured Tanya.

The sound caught her attention of Isaac, who quickly got up from the latest attack and turned to look over at Tanya.

" _Tanya!"_ He shouted, quickly rushing forward and shoulder-barged Batibat as the she-Demon tried to punch the downed Tanya. The force of the impact sent Batibat stumbled to the side, before righting herself. Looking up, she hissed, teeth bared, as she saw the Red Warrior standing defensively between herself and the Yellow Warrior.

Seeing that the other Warriors were starting to get to grips fighting the monstrosity of a Demon, Batibat snapped her fingers and two portals formed to the side of her and underneath the horned Demon. As she side stepped into her portal, the horned Demon sank into its own portal, before another strike could land on it.

" _Come on! I had him!"_ Matthew growled in frustration, before his gaze shifted to Tanya and Isaac, and he, along with the other two, rushed over to join Isaac.

" _MUTT! Teleport to the Den, now!"_ Isaac all but shouted into his Howler, his fist clenched tightly, to the extent that his entire forearm was shaking slightly.

" _Doing so now,"_ MUTT's monotone voice responded, before the comms were cut short and the five were enveloped in light. Moments later, they vanished, the scarred road and building the only remaining evidence that they were ever there.

* * *

The teens appeared in the Den, and immediately, Savage and MUTT carefully took Tanya and walked her, either one of her arms over their shoulders, to the table that rose from the floor.

The others quickly closed in when Tanya was lying flat on the table, her breathing having grown heavier since they had left. Savage quickly pushed against Matthew and Kyle's chest, saying, "Stay back; give her space."

Reluctantly, the others stepped back, as Savage and MUTT quickly gathered the tools and instruments to treat Tanya, the dagger still embedded deep in her side.

As MUTT went off to collect something from one of the cryo-freezers, Savage carefully tapped an Instinct-filled syringe, and removed Tanya's helmet with his free hand. Her heavy breathing became more prominent, as her eyes darted across the room rapidly.

"Tanya, relax," Savage said, borderline ordered, as carefully turned Tanya's head to look to one side, and injected the liquid into her bloodstream.

Her body tensed at the initial injection, but eventually her breathing calmed and her eyes drifted half close. Savage removed the syringe from her neck and set it to one side, before turning his eyes to look at the dagger.

"One of Batibat's weapons…" Savage uttered under his breath, as he carefully took a hold of the dagger's handle and pulled it free as slowly as he could.

Despite the odd flinch from Tanya, the blade came out smoothly and was soon held in Savage's hand - the wolf looking it over, seeing the thin layer of blood covering the blade.

"MUTT, see to any internal bleeding," Savage said as MUTT approached, carrying a small blood bag back with him. The robot nodded and quickly approached Tanya's side as Savage stepped back, connecting the blood bag up.

"She going to be OK?" Natalie asked when Savage approached them, the dagger still in hand. The others quickly looked up and drew closer again, all of their helmets off their heads and finding some place to rest by this point.

"She'll be fine," Savage assured, raising the dagger slightly. "This, however, needs to be disposed of."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, that's all well and good, but I kinda have a broken hand here. Probably need it seeing to, you know?" Kyle said, holding the wrist of his broken hand with the other, as he waved it slightly, gritting his teeth beneath his tightly pressed lips.

"This way," Savage said, handing the dagger to Isaac and gesturing for Kyle to follow him, another table rising up from the floor, opposite the room to where MUTT was repairing Tanya's side.

As Kyle slowly walked after Savage, Isaac turned his eyes down to look at the dagger; turning the blade around so it was facing down. The blood started to draw towards the tip of the blade, but it still left a slight blood mark where it had been. Small grooves covered the smooth edge of the weapon, and the handle itself had intricate markings and designs carved into the wood, though Isaac understood none of them.

"Fuck…that hurt…"

Tanya tried to push herself up onto her elbows, but MUTT carefully pressed onto her shoulder, pushing her back down onto her back.

" _You will need to recover, Tanya. You lost a fair amount of blood,"_ MUTT explained, walking around the table and carefully injecting another syringe full of Instinct. Tanya rested her head back against the table again, sighing quietly as she felt the feeling of the numbing agent flow through her bloodstream. It was.. unique.

" _Give it a few minutes and you should be fine,"_ MUTT instructed, moving to one side, and approached the other side of the Den, where Savage was dealing with Kyle and his broken hand.

When MUTT moved away, Isaac and Natalie approached her, Natalie leaning her hands on the side of the table and Isaac leaned against the wall beside the table.

"Did it hurt like a bitch?" Natalie asked, a smirk crossing her face.

"Oh yeah," Tanya muttered, though smirked as she added, "Still, kicked her ass though."

"We'll get her back for this," Isaac assured, receiving a thumbs up from Tanya. "But for now, we need you two to rest up."

"Meanwhile, the head teacher's going to have a hissy fit when they figure out we've skipped class for the past few weeks," Natalie muttered, glancing across at Isaac and over at Matthew, who was standing beside Savage and MUTT, observing as they tried to set Kyle's bones right.

"You guys'll be in the shit," Tanya muttered.

Isaac shrugged, saying, "MUTT said he hacked the school records and made it look like we're there every day."

"That doesn't stop the teachers from saying that we weren't there," Natalie countered. This caused Isaac's head to lift up slightly, his fingers stopping from rhythmically tapping his other arm.

"We'll think of something," Isaac replied, waving a hand dismissively before he pushed up from the wall, and walked around the main Den area to the area Kyle was getting treated.

When Isaac had passed the central control panels of the Den, Natalie looked over to Tanya and smirked knowingly. Tanya glanced at Natalie, and she immediately whispered, "Don't even think about saying it."

"You do then?"

"Fuck off," Tanya grunted, slowly pushing herself to sit up, and swung her legs over the table, ripping the blood bag from her arm, throwing the tube to one side.

Natalie simply smirked and rolled her eyes, but stepped forward when Tanya gestured for help. Putting one arm around her shoulder, Natalie helped Tanya to her feet. Once sure she could stand fully, Tanya nodded and side stepped slightly.

"Which hand are you?" Matthew asked as MUTT carefully set Kyle's unarmored hand in a cast, setting the bones right making sure they would heal correctly. All the while, Kyle grit his teeth and tried to keep from squirming. The Instinct helped, but it still hurt like fuck.

"Left…why?" Kyle asked lowly.

"That's lucky, you can still keep yourself busy at night," Matthew said, arms folded. His face remaining somewhat neutral. Savage and MUTT both looked over their shoulders at the comment, while Isaac shook his head and face-palmed, while Kyle just looked at him weirdly.

" _I don't think I want to know,"_ MUTT said quietly as he secured the hand cast, stepping to one side and returning to his stand at the command console.

"Frankly, I don't think I want to either," Savage added, glancing aside at Isaac.

"Trust me, you don't," Isaac said while pinching the bridge of his nose, before glaring at Matthew, who had let a small smirk cross his face.

Kyle pushed himself up slightly, gently holding his casted hand as he tried to move his fingers, though grit his teeth and stopping when the pain flared up momentarily. "Now we just have to hope those dickheads don't come back here for a while," Kyle muttered.

"Don't say anything like that, or you'll have to eat your words," Matthew advised.

* * *

"Yellow whore…" Batibat uttered to herself, wiping a bit of her blood from the corner of her lip with the back of her hand. She stood before a black-and-green smoke viewing orb, but it looked more like a mirror at this point, with the smoke simply surrounding it.

Et-ki had wondered off somewhere when the two of them had passed into their Realm once again, and she was thoroughly fished off. At least, Batibat thought that was the correct phrase... Humans were strange.

"I see your attack on the city went well."

Batibat rolled her eyes as she turned around slightly, seeing Fear drawing near, hands clasped behind him with a relatively smug smirk across his stone face.

"If you are done with that shit-eater grin," Batibat commented, turning back to look in the mirror, turning one hand in midair slightly, turning the mirror telepathically, showing her another angle of herself, from which she could make any more adjustments to the lucky shots. "I would advise leaving my chambers before I force you to."

"We both know you would, Batibat," Fear mused, slowly pacing around the good sized cavern, his eyes shifting across the numerous viewing portal mirrors lining the walls. All catching the faint light that reflected off of Fear's shoulder armor. "But the Master wouldn't be be pleased."

Batibat rolled her eyes slightly, remaining silent, washing her hands carefully in the small, shallow bowl of water levitating in front of her. Fear shook his head, and he continued pacing around the chamber, eventually coming to a stop by a large space that was absent of any mirrors; small mountings where Batibat rested her weapons between fights.

"You are missing one of your daggers," Fear said, gesturing to the empty spot on the wall. One dagger sat above that spot, with two more hanging horizontally either side.

"Your eyes are working fine, I see," Batibat commented, gently snapping her fingers and both the mirror and shallow bowl floated to one side, returning to rest on the wall and on a small pedestal, respectively.

Fear glared at Batibat as she turned to face him, making the final adjustments to her hair. "I thought you were one to take care of your weapons," Fear added, ignoring Batibat's comment as he paced around the cavern once again, eventually standing before the entrance.

"I've told you before, I have a reason for my actions," Batibat said, before she saw the blank look in Fear's eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose slightly with a light sigh. "The last I saw it, I had stabbed the Gamma Warrior with it. So, hopefully, it will still be in her."

"You have a plan, I assume?" Fear asked, stepping forward slightly, drawing closer to Batibat.

"Yes, Fear. I do," The she-Demon said bluntly, smirking slightly. She brushed past the other Warlord, slowly extending her hand and trailing her fingers up his arm. "Leave this to me, Fear," She purred quietly, her hand trailing up further and gently caressing Fear's strong jaw. She gently gripped his jaw firmly, turning his gaze down to meet her's. "Or I will make you suffer…" She whispered softly, a small smirk crossing her lips - a sharp contrast to the tone of her voice, paired with her vague threat.

Fear glanced down at Batibat as she trailed her hand free of his jaw, and she walked off. His eyes followed her movement out of her cavern, and to the right until she was out of sight.

He briskly turned and moved to walk out of the cavern, only to stop when he came face to face with the end of a dagger, levitating in midair and level with his eyes - aimed between them - with Batibat standing at the entrance to the cavern, her hand raised slightly.

"I mean it, Fear," Batibat said, the smirk gone from her features and replaced with a stern scowl. Her eyes bore holes into Fear's skull, and Fear could practically feel the fires burning in his temples.

Fear rolled his eyes slightly, before he raised a hand and, using his first two fingers, pushed the blade of the dagger to one side, saying, "I think I've got the message, Batibat. I will stay out of this."

Batibat glared at Fear, but eventually get the dagger drop and let it land on the floor, letting out a low, metallic _clang_ ring out through the cavern. It didn't last long though - she quickly raised one hand, and the dagger quickly rose up again, and returned to be gripped in Batibat's hand.

Sparing one last glare, Batibat left for real, vanishing from sight, and disappearing through a black-and-green smoke portal. Fear rolled his eyes slightly, before he finally left the chamber, and walked the other way to where Batibat had vanished.

* * *

"Why isn't she picking up?" Tanya muttered to herself, pulling her phone away from her ear and looking at the phone screen. She flicked the screen aside, showing the list of times she had called her in the last twenty minutes.

"Something wrong?" Natalie asked, taking steps towards Tanya, seeing what was cause her to stress like this.

"Sister's not picking up her phone. She should be up by now - I mean, sure it's her day off, but she doesn't usually sleep in on days off," Tanya explained.

"This about your dad?" Natalie asked, her arms folded gently over her chest. Tanya's eyes widened and she looked at Natalie. "Savage left the comms open," She further explained.

"I'll skin that fleabag," Tanya growled under her breath.

"I can hear you," Savage's distinctively gruff voice called.

Tanya rolled her eyes slightly, before Natalie caught her attention again. "Look, maybe you should check up on her. You know, ease your mind," Natalie suggested.

"Yeah, I should do that," Tanya agreed, smiling at Natalie and lightly nudged her shoulder. "Don't think you can get away with fighting any monsters that turn up without me," She added.

Natalie rolled her eyes, smirking away as she said, "I doubt we will over Kyle's whining."

"Hey!"

Tanya laughed lightly at the remark from across the room, before she nodded goodbye to Natalie and the others, and she tapped her Howler. Instantly, she was enveloped in a dimmed yellow light and vanished from the Den.

"We're going to need to have a talk about the abilities these Howlers have given us," Matthew commented as he took a seat to the side of the table Kyle was sat on.

* * *

Finding herself in the same alley in which she had teleported from earlier, Tanya looked around, checking over her shoulder to make sure there weren't any hobos lying in the alley, awoken from the sudden light. Seeing there wasn't, Tanya released a sigh of relief she didn't know she was holding.

She went to step out of the alley and return to the apartment she shared with her sister, before something caught her eye and caused her to freeze. For most people, they wouldn't give the car parked at the sidewalk, but to Tanya, all that car bought her were memories of pain and anger.

The car in question, a deep red in color, seemed to have a history, judging from the number of knocks and dents across the bodywork, along with a couple of scratches across the doors and a dark blue side mirror - most likely a replacement.

"Shit…" Tanya said to herself, before she quickly found her feet again and ran down the street, quickly turning up the path towards the apartments.

Fumbling with her keys momentarily, she eventually got the door open and nearly slammed it close; the glass shook slightly, threatening to shatter. But Tanya was already running up the stairs, taking them two at a time.

After half the time it took normally, she reached her floor and quickly rounded the corner. But she quickly slowed down, peering around the corner towards her apartment, instead of rushing all the way and running into him…

Deciding to test the abilities provided to her by the Howler, Tanya pulled back in the corner and sniffed slightly. Instantly, however, she nearly gagged and had to cover her nose and mouth. The overwhelming stench of colonel burned her nose.

' _Definitely him,'_ Tanya thought darkly, pulling her hand back down slowly.

' _ **KILL.'**_

"What?" Tanya questioned, looking around sharply, as the sudden, gravely tone of voice startling her.

' _ **BAD. PAIN.'**_

Despite looking up and down the corridor, the source of the voice had no body. However, unaware to Tanya, she had slowly moved out from behind the corner, and was steadily walking towards the closed door.

' _ **KILL. KILL.'**_

The voice began to grow louder, steadily at first, before more voices started to overlap one another, the voices growing in intensity. It started to burn Tanya's ears, despite having no source that was visible. Before she realized it, she was standing before the door, her hand raised slightly, reaching for the handle.

It was at this point, she found she was hearing other voices. Thankfully, or at least thankful for one, they were coming from behind the door. However, they seemed to be steadily growing louder and more malice-laced.

' _ **KILL. KILL. KILL!'**_ The voice's began again, swarming around Tanya's head as they seemed to consume her very thoughts. The wound where Batibat's dagger had impaled her seemed to itch, and Tanya vaguely felt the warm feeling of blood oozing against the bandages pressed firmly against her side. But right now, her thoughts were elsewhere.

The hand hovering over the door handle slowly screwed into a fist, and she raised her other hand, twisting it so the Howler was facing upward. She quickly pressed and moved the central crystal, electing a growl to escape the Howler. Except this time, it seemed more animalistic than usual.

* * *

The door of the apartment burst open, nearly coming off its hinges as the lock broke, sending small portions of wood flying in every direction.

"What the hell?" One of the current occupants exclaimed, looking around the corner of the corridor. He adjusted the shirt he wore, and glanced back at the other occupant.

Nicole quickly moved around the male, making sure to avoid getting too close, and roughly pushed him back, getting a slightly aggravated look in return.

"Shit!" Nicole exclaimed.

Fredrick quickly moved past his daughter and stepped into the corridor, looking down at the source of the noise.

He was immediately tackled by a yellow blur, sending him flying into the kitchen of the apartment. Nicole, naturally, shouted in alarm, before she quickly moved, rushing into the kitchen.

She instantly stopped when she saw the scene before her.

The table that sat in the center of the dining room/kitchen combo was split in half, her father lying in the middle, fresh cuts oozing blood across his arms and face. Standing over him, was someone she had only heard on the news - the Yellow Power Ranger. Her back was to her currently, but there was something off about Her. How she held themselves, their fists clenched tightly.

The Yellow Ranger bent down and grabbed Fredrick by his scruff, lifting him up with unimaginable strength. He tried to push himself away from the Ranger, but one hand released the ruffled scruff of Fredrick's shirt and grabbed his wrist.

" _You shouldn't have come back,"_ The modified, metallic voice of the Yellow Ranger said, malice laced within her modified tone, before her grip tightly on Fredrick's wrist and, with a sharp twist, a sickening _crack_ rang out and Fredrick cried out in pain.

Adjusting her stance, the Yellow Ranger threw Fredrick across the room, sending him flying into the wall of the kitchen. A large dent was left when Fredrick slump to the ground, his wrist hanging limply at his side, while his right leg had a large piece of glass from the picture that previously covered the wall.

Nicole, still in shock, slowly raised her shaking hands and covered her mouth and nose, breathing shakily as the Yellow Ranger turned and stalked towards her father, her breath catching in her throat as she saw the Ranger momentarily stop, as if looking at Nicole, before quickly moving on.

She moved her hand out to the side, and a black blade formed from her hand, taking the form of a large, curved blade, which she brought down to rest against her other hand.

" _Any last words?"_ The Yellow Ranger asked, facing downward, looking at Fredrick. But no response came - in his unconscious state, it wasn't possible for him to do. " _Pathetic,"_ Came the growl-like voice, as the Yellow Ranger held the blade firmly in both hands and raised it up, the sharpened blade catching the light. Her muscles tensed, and she went to bring the weapon down.

 _To Be Continued…_


	9. Episode 8 - The Yellow Streak, Part 2

Episode 8 - The Yellow Streak, Part 2

"What was she all worked up about?" Matthew asked as Natalie walked back, the last trace of Tanya's teleportation vanishing into the air.

"Her sister isn't responding to any of her calls - she's just worried," Natalie briefly explained.

"Why?" Matthew asked.

"Her dad's back in town."

"Her dad?" Matthew questioned. His response was a slight nod. Matthew side glanced at the others, where Savage and Isaac were talking about the Howlers, and various details that Matthew couldn't care less about. MUTT had gone off to work on the Zord repairs, and Kyle looked ready to fall asleep with Savage's and Isaac's voices around him.

Gesturing for Natalie to follow him, Matthew moved over to one side of the command Den, his hands returning to his pockets. Natalie quickly followed, adjusting some of her hair behind her ear. "You really think it's a good idea for her to go alone to check on her sister?" Matthew asked, adding, "We don't even know if there was an after affect from that dagger."

"Look at you, thinking ahead," Natalie commented, though only received a glare from Matthew in response. Natalie rolled her eyes, saying, "Look, why don't you go check on her? The rest of us are kind of tied up here. Kyle needs to rest, and me and Isaac need to be stay in case Horror decides to through another fucker at us."

"Fine," Matthew said, before he turned to look over at Savage. "Yo, Savage. Need a teleport to where Tanya ended up. Gotta check on her."

Savage paused from answering a question from Isaac, side glancing at Matthew before gesturing for MUTT to teleport Matthew.

"So, heightened senses are a side effect from the Howler?" Isaac asked, getting right back into the beat of his questions.

"Yes, inherited from the Ancient Warriors," Savage answered.

"Really hope we'd had some kind of healing factor.. or at least heal faster. Then we'd be like the Flash…" Kyle muttered as he tried to move his hand, though stopped when pain flared up.

"Healing factor is Wolverine and Deadpool and shit," Natalie called over.

"The Flash is better!"

"At least Wolverine's consistent with actors."

"...Fuck you."

* * *

Matthew stumbled slightly when he arrived at.. wherever he had ended up, and looked around, finding himself in an alley. "Huh.. no homeless guy trying to stab me," He muttered, shoving his hands into his pockets as he walked down the alley. "Then again, they probably think its some type of drug trip."

Matthew paused upon leaving the alley, looking up and down the path. The distinctive sound of a siren was close, but he didn't think much of it for now.

That was until two more police cruisers rushed passed him, sirens blaring as they turned a corner, going down a corner and out of Matthew's line of sight. But whatever they were going, Matthew could hear they were heading towards the other sirens…

He sighed lowly, saying, "Isaac would do something 'heroic' or some shit and I'd get my ass chewed out if I didn't."

He glanced up the road, before rolling his eyes and began jogging towards the source. "Fuckers…" He uttered under his breath as he jogged closer. The sirens starting to ring louder in his ear his enhanced hearing didn't help matters either.

He came to a stop when he came to where the cruisers had gathered - at the front of an apartment complex - officers either standing beside the open doors of their cruisers, or making sure the gathering crowd of civilians didn't move past the barriers. Judging by the various iPhones and Andriods in their hands, they were trying to get a picture of something.

"Well…this can't be good," Matthew muttered, before he quickly walked down the path and eventually joined the crowd, trying to push his way to the front.

When the crowds proved to be too much of a pain, Matthew gave up and turned to look at one of the people beside him. A teen, barely above his own age, wearing a dark green shirt under a grey jacket, and brown hair that was styled to look like he just got up from bed.

"What's going on here?" He asked.

The other teen glanced at Matthew, before he responded, "One of the Ranger fuckers is in the building, holding someone hostage or some shit like that."

Matthew nodded slightly, sparing a glare at the teen. But on the inside, he was _shitting_ himself.

"Fucks sake Tanya…" He muttered darkly, slipping free of the crowd and moving down the road. His eyes scanned the area, seeing that the cruisers were focused around the main entrance to the complex, leaving the sides-at least the side he was going down-bare.

Moving down the alley beside the complex, Mathew ensured he was alone, and there wasn't any sleeping homeless hiding inside a dumpster. Once he was sure, he stepped back and raised his Howler across his chest.

"United, we Howl," He quickly muttered, before a column of light came from him, covering him entirely. Moments later, he was armored up, the dark blue, black and silver uniform standing out against the browns and greys of the walls, while his helmet looked around, several parts of a HUD popping up.

" _Huh…this is new…"_ Matthew said to himself, but put that to one side. He'd pull an Isaac when he was back at the Den.

Shaking his head slightly, Matthew looked up to the side of the building and finally noticed something. Though it was faint, a thin trail of yellow 'smoke' floated through the air, coming from the apartment complex, from an open window from the sixth floor.

" _That better be her…"_ He muttered, before he looked over the wall of the complex. There wasn't any emergency exit set of stairs or ladders on this side, so that ruled that option out.

Another idea sparked in his head.

" _Where's Jackass when you need them?"_ Matthew asked himself as he stepped back, feeling the back of his foot bump into the opposite wall. The extra few feet of space may make all the difference.. he'd soon find out.

Tilting his head to one side, then the other, resulting in a faint _crack_ from both movements, Matthew ran forward and jumped at the last moment. Turns out, the power from the Howler was more effective than he anticipated, and he jumped off from the wall beside the complex, propelling him further.

Matthew had imagined that he'd rolled through the window, landing gracefully in the 'super hero landing' pose. But the result was.. a little different.

He smashed through the large window, sure, but the ending was different - he landed on his back, smashing right through a small coffee table. Glass and wood shards surrounded him, as Matthew groaned under his breath.

" _That hurt like a bitch,"_ Matthew grunted, rolling onto his side, getting a look at the shattered window and ruined coffee table. _"I'm not paying for that,"_ He bluntly said, before he heard movement to his side and looked over.

Three people stood there, one was an old man, lying on the ground, covered in blood, with another person, a woman- _a fucking bomb as well,_ Matthew thought - who looked absolutely terrified, and he wasn't sure if the current shade of her skin was naturally this pale.

Then he turned to look at the last figure - Tanya, all armored up in her yellow, black and silver armor - one hand had a fistful of the man's shirt and had one arm raised, ready to punch him. From the looks of it, a finishing blow.

But she was looking over her shoulder, the visor obscuring her eyes, but Matthew could tell she was trying to burn holes in his head.

Never breaking eye contact, if he was even _making_ eye contact, Matthew slowly pushed himself up, thankful he couldn't feel any of the wooden shards that were trying to push into his palm. _"Tanya…"_ He said slowly, brushing the glass from his shoulder with one hand, while he held the other hand out defensively.

The yellow-clad Warrior snarled, catching Matthew off guard and causing him to take a step back as a response. She turned her gaze back to the man in her grasp. She raised her tightly wound fist a bit, and went to bring it down - hard.

" _Tanya!"_ Matthew said firmly, taking two steps forward. A small amount of glass crunched under his foot.

The Warrior turned back sharply at the sharp tone, and finally let go of Fredrick's shirt. His body collapsed onto the ground, his breathing irregular and shallow. Tanya turned around slowly, her hand gripping the curved blade and bringing it up to rest on her shoulder, a low snarl escaping her.

" _Something's happened to you.. hasn't it?"_ Matthew said slowly, letting a few seconds of silence pass before he added, _"Well, of course something's happened to you, clearly, something's fucked you up, big time, and you've gone on this fucking.. whatever it is. Attacking the old fucker! That's it! And-"_

Matthew was cut short when Tanya rushed forward and tackled down, discarding her curved blade and tackling the two of them to the ground. He quickly brought his arms crossed over his head, blocking the rapid and wild punches.

Grabbing onto one wrist as the fists came flying towards him, Matthew used the force and power he had at his disposal to throw Tanya across the room, her body coming to rest at the base of the window he had broken through.

Tanya snarled and went to get to her feet, but Matthew rushed forward and tackled her forcefully, sending the two of them flying through the window, taking some of the glass shards with them as they fell to the ground.

" _Shittt!"_ Matthew exclaimed as they fell through the air, colliding with the ground in mere seconds. A faint crater in the concrete pavement. Thankfully, for Matthew anyway, he had Tanya to cushion his fall, but it didn't work that well.

" _Fuck…"_ He groaned lowly, rolling off of the other Warrior and lying on his back, trying to sit up. _"Fuck, that hurt. I'll leave the 'saving civilian' shit for Isaac or whoever."_

He quickly looked to the side at Tanya, but was quickly greeted with a flying fist and he was lying flat against the ground momentarily. She tried to jump him, but he quickly dug his feet up into her gut, sending her flying over him.

Tanya tried to recover after landing roughly, and Matthew quickly got to his feet, the two facing one another, Matthew slightly hunched to get a better stance, with Tanya adopting a similar stance, facing Matthew fully.

It was at that moment Matthew heard sound to his right, and saw the crowd and officers from earlier were now looking at them, the civilians taking pictures and videos while the officers quickly moved the barriers to keep them away.

" _Well…shit…"_ Matthew said to himself.

* * *

"Isaac, with all due respect, please shut the fuck up?" Kyle asked, rubbing his temples as he glared across at the named teen, as he spoke to Savage. "You're giving me a migraine."

Isaac rolled his eyes slightly, glancing back at the chair Kyle had taken, before he responded, "Fine. Figured I've learnt all I'm going to remember today, anyway."

Natalie chuckled slightly, leaning over the desks and computers, smirking as the other two argued - must have been a guy thing. She looked at her side, where MUTT had yet to look away from the computer screen he had been working on, his fingers moving as a blur over the keyboard. "Any progress on the Zords, MUTT?"

" _Once I get to 95%, the rest of the process should be momentarily,"_ MUTT responded, never looking away from the screen, nor did his fingers stop tapping at the keyboard. Natalie was sure that the letters on the keyboard would be _long_ gone by now.

Kyle was ready to fall asleep, when the feeling of his phone vibrating against his leg caught his attention. He reached down to his pocket and pulled the phone free, unlocking the screen.

When he saw his notifications, his eyes widened, exclaiming, "Shit!"

Isaac, Savage and Natalie flinched slightly at the sudden shout, before Savage asked, "What is it?"

"It's Tanya and Matt," Kyle said, glancing up from his phone. He turned it around and said, "Someone's got a live stream of them fighting in the middle of a street."

Isaac and Natalie moved back over to Kyle and saw the video streaming on his phone. Sure enough, despite the quality looking like that of a potato, they could make out the distinctive shapes of Matthew and Tanya, both armored up and throwing punches and kicks at one another.

"Shit…" Isaac said lowly, before side glancing at Natalie, as she too sharing the same look with Isaac. "Reckon this could be something to do with that dagger, Savage?" He asked, looking back at the wolf.

"I fear that it is the reason," Savage said, turning back and walking over to a free computer, and added, "You need to subdue her and bring her back here, so I can analysis her and try and form an antidote."

"What happened to that dagger from the Bitch Demon? Isn't that still around here?" Natalie asked, walking around the central command podium, trying to find where the black dagger had been placed.

"Here is it," Isaac said, gesturing to one of the boxes stacked to one side and approached the pile. Sure enough, the small black dagger was propped on one of the boxes, Tanya's blood still dried onto the blade.

Though just as he went to grab it, the blade suddenly evaporated into shadows, floating around for a few seconds before vanishing completely. "Ok.. what the fuck was that?"

Savage looked just as the blade turned to shadow, and growled under his breath. "Dammit. Forgot the blades don't last long without the she-Demon."

"Alright then, Plan B," Isaac said, before he gestured to Natalie, "Nat, you try and help Matthew, and try and keep Tanya from hurting anyone. Kyle," He looked towards the other human, "when you're ready, see if you can help."

"What are you going to do?" Kyle asked, slowly getting off of the table, still holding his partially broken hand close to his side.

"I'm going to see if I can get another one of them daggers," Isaac said.

"Are you insane? You'll more than likely get killed with a dagger than getting away with it," Savage commented, moving away from MUTT and approaching the Red Warrior.

"You got any better ideas?" Isaac questioned.

"Give me some time and I'll see what I can do with the samples of blood I took from Tanya," Savage explained, gesturing behind him. Beside MUTT, a single vial of blood was connected into a device, similar to that of a USB hub.

"And will it be quicker with the help of a dagger?" Isaac asked, glaring at Savage challengingly.

Savage glared evenly at Isaac, the two glaring at one another for a few moments before Savage finally broke the silence. "You'll struggle to get Batibat to come to this Realm," He said.

"I'll find a way," Isaac said evenly, a slight smirk twitching at the corner of his lips before it went away again. He glanced over at Natalie, asking, "Still up for helping them?"

"On it," Natalie said, glancing at MUTT for conformation. The robot didn't look towards Natalie, though one hand moved to another keyboard and moments later, Natalie was enveloped in a column of white light, before vanishing altogether.

"How do you intend to bright her into this Realm?" Savage questioned as Isaac began walking towards the door to the front of the Den.

"I'll find a way," Isaac replied bluntly, before he left the Den, leaving just the sound of MUTT's frantic typing to fill the air.

" _You could go help him, you know,"_ MUTT commented.

"He needs to learn the hard way," Savage said firmly, turning away and walking off.

* * *

Matthew was thrown back against the wall of the apartment complex, creating a faint dent where he hit, shaking his head. He quickly ducked to the side as Tanya threw her latest punch at where Matthew's head had been moments earlier.

" _Jesus, Tanya! I'm on your side!"_ Matthew exclaimed, ducking and dodging the punches as best he could, grabbing onto her wrist as one punch was thrown and driving his knee up into her gut.

Tanya grunted loudly in pain, keeling over slightly over Matthew's knee, though used this position to tackle Matthew to the ground. She quickly straddled his hips, punning one of his arms beneath his knee, and tried to throw punches at the now pinned Blue Warrior.

Though she managed to land a few on him, she didn't get many before a column of white light came crashing to the ground beside the two fighting Warriors.

" _Finally,"_ Matthew grunted under his breath, just as another punch sent his head knocking against the street.

From the light, Natalie, fully armored up in her White Omega Warrior armor, rushed forward and delivered a double legged kick to Tanya's side. The momentum carried Natalie a few feet with Tanya as the two rolled across the ground, though Natalie managed to right herself quickly while Tanya came to a stop about ten feet further along.

" _Took you long enough,"_ Matthew said as he jumped to his feet, quickly joining Natalie's side as the White Warrior got up again.

" _Just be thankful I came,"_ Natalie shot back, shifting her eyes from Tanya to the surrounding civilians and police. _"We need to get them out of here - if they get hurt, we'll have the police and the feds up our ass."_

" _Where's Isaac?"_ Matthew questioned.

" _Trying to find a way to help Tanya,"_ She responded, her stance tensing when Tanya got to her feet, shaking stars from her vision and turned her focus back on the now Blue and White Warriors.

" _Well, he better fucking hurry. Because she isn't going to stop,"_ Matthew said, shifting into a defensive stance as Tanya ran at them, the curved blade returning to her hands. Matthew and Natalie both drew their respective weapons, Matthew adding, _"Try not to hurt her.. not too much."_

The two quickly shifted stances as Tanya jumped before them, bringing the weapon down with a war cry.

* * *

"I think one of the Warriors is trying to get our attention."

Batibat glanced at the entrance to her personal cavern, seeing Fear standing there with his arms folded behind his back. "And what makes you think that?" She questioned, turning her attention to back to her dagger, carefully turning it in her fingers, before bringing it to rest on the mounting point on the wall.

Fear leaned against the side of the entrance, brushing a bit of dust that fell from the cave's ceiling, off his shoulder, as he said, "Well, he seems to be heading towards the place where you last met."

"The Valley of the Dead?" Batibat questioned, turning back to look at Fear, one of her eyebrows raised ever so slightly. Fear's response was a single, silent nod. The she-Demon was quiet for a few moments, before she turned to her weapons again. "Well, are you going to try and kill him again? Or does it depend on which Warrior they are?"

"I'll let you take on the Red Warrior since, after the Yellow Warrior, I figured you want to settle a score, I believe the saying goes."

At the mention of the Red Warrior, Batibat's eyes narrowed slightly, her hand slowly moving up to one of her daggers, taking it from the wall mount. Her fingers carefully traced along the sharpened edge of the weapon.

"An offer such as this? That is hard to refuse…" She said slowly, flicking the dagger upside down and carefully sheathing it beneath her smoke-like clothing.

She grabbed a few more daggers and slotted them into holsters and sheaths under her clothing, before turning sharply. She glanced at Fear, borderline glared at him, before passing him and walking down the cavern, approaching the safe place where she could create a portal.

Fear watched her as she left, a small smirk crossing his otherwise cold, stone-like expression. "You never could refuse something like that…" He muttered under his breath, pushing himself off of the wall and began walking the other way.

"Pride will be your downfall…"

* * *

Isaac walked through the forest, stepping over fallen logs and stepping around bushes as he made his way further into the forest. His eyes were focused solely on the path he was mentally making for himself ahead of him.

"How the fuck am I going to get that bitch here?" Isaac muttered to himself, glancing around as he walked, having that paranoid feeling that someone was watching him. He knew there wasn't, hopefully, but.. there was always that feeling.

However, when a twig snapped to the side, Isaac stopped and looked around, trying to look for any movement. He did see some but, it turned out to be just leaves of the trees he had stopped between. Nothing that said that there was anyone else here…

The sound of leafs crunching behind him caught his attention, and he ducked, seeing a small, black blade cut above his head - what would have been his neck if he hadn't moved in time.

Stepping back, he shifted into a fighting stance as the Wolkein turned around sharply, shifting into a more hunched back stance; a disembodied, gravely noise escaped from wherever its mouth was, sounding like a deathly groan.

Isaac looked around, and found more Wolkeins appearing, traces of black-and-green smoke still coming off some of them, as they moved in to surround the Warrior.

"Really should have expected it," Isaac told himself as he looked around, seeing any exits he would have taken were blocked off by the Wolkeins closing in.

"Well, well…little far from your pack, aren't we?" A feminine, sly voice questioned.

Turning around slightly, Isaac's face hardened slightly as Batibat approached; the Wolkeins either side of her moving to give her room, her smoke-like dress floating weightlessly behind her. A smug smirk was plastered across her pale face, as her eyes glided over the human before them.

"Stalking me now?" Isaac asked flatly, glancing to either side to keep the Wolkeins in sight as they shifted from one foot to the other, low growls and groans overlapping one another.

"I have better things to do with my time," Batibat said distastefully, rolling her eyes before turning back to glaring at Isaac. "I have a score to settle with you Warriors, and what better to fight their leader?"

"Worst mistake of your life," Isaac said under his breath, slowly raising his wrist to cross his chest, sliding his sleeve down to get access to the Howler.

"Go! Soften him up," Batibat breezed, gesturing towards Isaac. The Wolkeins charged at the command, quickly closing the gap towards the Red Warrior.

"United, we Howl!" Isaac called, pressing his Howler and immediately, was enclosed in a column of red light. The impact of the column sending a few of the close Wolkeins flying back, colliding into trees and following to the ground.

The light vanished as quickly as it had appeared, and Isaac was revealed in his Warrior form. twirling the sword in one hand for a moment, before righting it and gripping the sword handle with both hands.

The Wolkeins quickly rushed forward, surrounding Isaac and daggers were sent flying in his direction. Isaac ducked and swerved to avoid getting struck by the daggers, blocking some with his forearm and slashing his sword across their exposed torsos.

Bodies started to fall around Isaac as he defended himself, though his defenses started to crumble. A few attacks landed on his person, sending sparks flying from the connection. Isaac quickly turned and struck the Wolkeins, spilling their blood and sending them falling back.

" _Ah!"_ He grunted in pain, as one particularly painful blow was struck to the back of his shoulder. He fell forward slightly, falling down onto one knee before swinging the sword to his side, striking two Wolkeins across the chest and sending them flying back.

"Enough," Batibat said, flicking her wrist and snapping her fingers. The sound echoing faintly through the forest.

The Wolkeins froze where they stood, some with their daggers raised around Isaac's body. Their arms relaxed to their sides, and they backed away. Leaving a kneeling Isaac, panting heavily through his voice modulator. _"What? Get your grunts to soften me up, then try and kill me?"_ Isaac said lowly, raising his head to look up at the approaching Batibat.

The she-Demon smirked audibly, rolling her eyes as she gathered a small dagger from behind her person, the Wolkeins having backed off entirely. Some even returning through black-and-green portals.

Standing before Isaac now, Batibat slowly crouched down to nearly eye level with the Warrior's visor. She tilted her head slightly, as if trying to see through the visor, as she slowly moved the dagger, gently raising the sharpened blade edge against the chin of the helmet.

Isaac's head rose ever so slightly with the dagger, lifting his gaze up to meet Batibat's. _"I'm gonna need that,"_ Isaac said lowly, one arm carefully wrapped around his bruised stomach.

"As if I would give you this," Batibat mused, slowly dragging the dagger's edge across his helmet's chin, leaving a faint groove of silver among the dark red. "I already lost one dagger to Oktrix. I don't intend on losing another."

" _Okt.. who the fuck.. actually, never mind,"_ Isaac grunted, releasing his sword handle and snatched the blade of Batibat's extended dagger. Batibat's eyes widened, though her reactions weren't quick enough to avoid Isaac's forceful head-butt, driving his helmet against her smug smirk-less face.

Hissing in pain, Batibat stumbled back a few steps, covering her face with her free hand, before lifting her fire-filled eyes at the spot where Isaac was kneeling. Or.. rather, _had_ been kneeling.

He had pushed himself up onto his feet, and delivered a flying knee to Batibat. The knee connected, sending Batibat sliding backwards along the ground until she collided into a tree.

Snarling, Batibat gripped the bark of the tree with such force that it crunched under her fingers, as she suddenly surged forward. A faint trail of smoke following her as she shifted across the area, slamming a fist forward.

Isaac barely dropped and rolled to one side before the fist flew through the space he was occupying, slamming into the tree he stood in front of. The impact was split across the middle, sending the top half of the tree falling to the ground with a great groan of wood.

Isaac quickly scrambled to his feet and ran off, vanishing into a red blur as he tried to put as much space between himself and Batibat. The She-Demon's sharp eyes watched the blur as it rushed off, and she quickly followed. Turning in a blur of shadowy black in turn, looking like Isaac's shadow.

* * *

" _What part of leave don't you lot fucking understand?!"_ Matthew shouted as he pushed himself to his feet, looking towards the crowd of civilians. The police were trying to get them back, but not fast enough.

He heard a modified shout of panic, and looked around, ducking to avoid Natalie's body flying over him, flipping over multiple times before landing on one of the cruisers' bonnets. The pitch and volume of the sirens changed drastically, and smoke began to flow from under the bonnet.

" _Oh, that is it,"_ Natalie grunted, pushing herself off of the bonnet. A low growl escaping the modulator, as she slid off of to the side, with the civilians trying to get closer.

Natalie disappeared behind the cruiser, and Matthew took a step back when the cruiser began to groan and the wheels began to lift from the road.

" _Shit…"_ Matthew said in amazement, as Natalie appeared beneath the cruiser, crouching at first, before straining to rise to a hunched over stance. The crowds were all pushed back further as she brought the cruiser up.

"Hey! Put that down!" One of the officers shouted, trying to step forward. Though one glance over Natalie's shoulders stopped him in his tracks, faltering slightly.

" _You want me to put it down?"_ Natalie asked, gritting her teeth. She had thought she would try this out, but she really should have checked with MUTT first. " _Fine."_

Straining further, Natalie crouched a bit before suddenly pushed up with her arms and back. The cruiser was sent flying through the air, the siren still rising and lowering in pitch. It flew clean over Matthew, at least ten feet above his head-he still ducked a little, though-as it went flying towards Tanya.

Tanya stopped her running, lifting her head up slightly, just in time for the front license plate to crash into her visor. The cruiser rolled over her, carrying her along the road at least a hundred feet. Bits of glass and shards of metal flew off in all directions as the cruiser rolled, with the occasion flash of yellow among the white and blue of the cruiser.

When the cruiser finally came to a stop, the siren was finally cut and silence filled the road.

" _I said incapacitate her, not throw a FUCKING cruiser at her!"_ Matthew exclaimed, as Natalie slowly drew closer, one hand resting on her hip.

" _My back feels fucked right now. Right now, she's lucky to not being choked in my bare hands,"_ Natalie responded, looking to the now destroyed cruiser.

" _Let's just get her back to the Den."_ Matthew glanced over at Natalie one last time, before he tapped his Howler and said, _"MUTT, we need a teleport. Tanya's out of it right now, so, we need it ASAP."_

" _Isaac needs your help right now, Matthew. I'll bring Natalie and Tanya back here,"_ MUTT's voice responded.

Matthew and Natalie glanced at one another, and Matthew said, _"Alright, just hurry the fuck up."_

* * *

Isaac ran through the forest, side-stepping to avoid trees and rocks, his feet seemingly guiding themselves around roots and stones, moving as a blur of red among the browns and greens of the forest around him.

" _MUTT! I've got the dagger - any day now!"_ Isaac said into his Howler, jumping up and kicking himself off a thick-trunk tree, sending him flying off in another direction., looking like a deep red blur in the shape of an 'L', hoping to throw Batibat off with a sharp turn.

" _We're sending Matthew to help you,"_ Savage's voice replied. _"We're trying to keep Tanya subdued."_

" _Well, hurry the fuck up!"_ Isaac shouted into the Howler, before he shouted suddenly. He had missed one of the upturned roots, jutting out of the ground.

Stumbling, Isaac lost his balance and rolled across the grass and mud, kicking up patches of grass and getting covered in mud in the process. When he finally came to rest, a shooting pain came from his right leg, causing him to groan loudly in pain.

" _Fucking hell!"_ He exclaimed, trying to get to his feet, but found he couldn't put nowhere near as much weight on his twisted ankle as he would have liked. He tried to limp forward a few steps, but he was pushed to the ground once again.

He quickly shifted himself around to find a swirling black mass of smoke floating behind him, yet Isaac had a feeling this couldn't lead to anything good. From the swirling black smoke, Batibat slowly stepped forward, her pale features standing out first against the darkness, as she stepped onto the surface.

"You humans are nothing more than pests, a disease, plaguing the world my Master requires…" Batibat snarled, stepping forward, drawing another blade from behind her trench-coat like cloth, running her hand along the short blade. The blade steel extended slowly, in time with her hand movement, stopping once the blade was around two and a half feet in length.

" _Why is it that you fuckers always want the planet? We've fucked it up enough, so you can't do much worse,"_ Isaac grunted, trying to shift backwards; shuffling across the grass.

He stopped, however, when the tip of the blade made contact with his shoulder, digging in slightly. Thanks to the armored form he wore, the damage was significantly less than it could have been. Still, that didn't stop him from grunting in pain, his free hand trying to grab onto the blade and ease the pressure.

"Like I would tell a lowly human, pretending to be a Warrior…" Batibat hissed lowly, narrowing her eyes as she pressed harder. The blade digging into his shoulder, electing another grunt from the human. "Though I find the noises you make.. enjoyable."

" _Fucking hell…"_ Isaac grunted quietly, trying to shift away, but failing to do so. _Got a fucking dominatrix here,_ he thought darkly.

His thoughts were interested, however, when a flash of blue light to the far side caught his eye. He turned to look at the source, he saw a streak of blue shot towards them and collided with Batibat; kicking into her side, sending the she-Demon flying into a tree. Resulting in her body slumping at the base, a large crack appearing in the tree.

" _Never thought I'd be happy to see you,"_ Isaac said dryly, rubbing the point where the blade tip had tried to stab through. He was sure there was blood.

" _Nice to see you, too,"_ Matthew replied shortly, before stepping back and offering a hand for Isaac to take. Isaac reached a hand up, grabbing Matthew's forearm and using him to help pull himself to his feet. Though he favoured his twisted foot, saying, _"Gonna need help, my ankle got fucked."_

" _What's with you and leg injures?"_ Matthew asked, but shook his head and put Isaac's arm around his shoulders, hauling him to a better stance.

" _Hey, I got what we needed,"_ Isaac shot back, raising his other hand to show the dagger, still firmly held by the handle.

" _Let's get out of here before the bitch gets up,"_ Matthew said, raising his Howler to his helmet. Before he could make the call, however, a low hiss from the side caught both his and Isaac's attention.

Batibat pushed herself up onto her hands and knees, raising her head. Her usually acid-green, snake-like eyes were entirely the sickly green colour, her pupils narrowed to such a degree that they seemed non-existent.

" _Think she's pissed?"_ Matthew asked, sarcasm in his tone.

" _No shit,"_ Isaac replied, before he was helped over to another tree, and rested against it. Matthew quickly turned back around, shifting into a defensive stance. And it was at in that moment, Batibat rushed forward in a blur of shadows.

Matthew rushed at her in turn, disappearing in a blur of blue, the two tearing up grass and mud before colliding, Batibat throwing Matthew off and the two were propelled to one side. A few punches were thrown on either side before they parted, both landing on their feet.

Batibat was first to react, rushing forward to throw a series of punches at Matthew, who raised his forearms to block as many of the attacks as he could. He threw a couple in retaliation, ducking to try and avoid a couple of higher punches.

The further the punches progressed, Matthew noticed Batibat was growing more and more wild; her punches harder, but growing wider and less defensive. He tried to figure out a plan, to use this to his advantage.

He grabbed onto her wrist when he blocked the punch with his forearm, and grabbed it with his other hand. Firmly held in both hands, he twisted around and flipped Batibat over his shoulder, an angered hiss escaping Batibat as she was sent flying over his body. She faltered slightly when her body collided with the solid ground.

Matthew quickly wrapped one leg around Batibat's arm, while the other one moved over her neck to keep her head pinned, and pulled himself down to keep Batibat in an arm lock. Pulling it harder, hoping to cause at least some damage to the she-Demon.

A rare feeling, pain, started to spike in Batibat as her arm began to strain in a direction it wasn't supposed to go in, before her eyes snapped open and she suddenly evaporated into a cloud of smoke. Matthew's grip on her arm and body suddenly went, his legs falling onto the ground and his hands closing around air.

" _What the-?!"_ He exclaimed, looking around at the smoke that surrounded him, before he fell his arms pulled apart and pinned to the ground. He was then lifted, again from his wrists, into a standing position and further; his feet straining to stay on the ground.

The smoke slowly solidified again, and the first thing he saw was the burning glare in Batibat's eyes. Her grip tightened around his wrists, and Matthew found himself flung across the forest, flying through the air, avoiding all the trees until he came to a stop.

Another tree had fallen, split in half, with the top half falling off onto the ground.

Matthew lay at the ground, groaning lowly, as he shook his head, pushing himself to his hands. _"Motherfucker,"_ He grunted, before he raised his Howler to his mouth-piece and grunted, _"MUTT. Teleport - now!"_

He looked up at the sudden snarl, and saw Batibat rushing at him. Her legs, which pounded the ground forcefully, started to blur into the black shadow streak.

" _Shit!"_ Matthew exclaimed, before he found himself enveloped in blue light, just as Batibat drove a double-leg kick at his slumped form.

Batibat snarled in anger as her feet slammed into the base of the tree, partially uprooting the tree remains from the force. The Blue Warrior had vanished, mere moments before she should have obliterated him!

She looked to the side, and her fingers clawed into the solid mud upon finding that the Red Warrior was gone as well; the tree base he had been leaning against, now sat vacant.

Cursing loudly in her native tongue, Batibat rose to her feet and slammed her clenched fist into the splintered top. A large chunk flew to the side, lowering the split further. The chunk came to rest at the base of another tree, wood splintering in every direction.

"Damn Warriors!" She snarled, her breathing sharp and fast. Her usually smooth, red-tipped black hair was ruffled up, a few twigs snapped off and splintered off in random directions.

* * *

"You think that's going to hold her?" Natalie asked, looking back at MUTT. The robot pulled its hand away from the small panel on the wall to look at the helmetless White Warrior.

" _It's secured worse,"_ MUTT responded, before the sound of several, dull _thuds_ caught their attention again.

Behind a clear screen window, Tanya slammed her fists repeatedly against the window. Despite being fully armored up in her Yellow Warrior armor, no dents or cracks were forming from her solid punches. Muffled shouts came from behind the glass, like she was standing at a greater distance away.

When she wasn't slamming her fists, or her entire body against the reinforced glass, she was stalking along the length of the screen window, continuously facing the human and robot standing before her, watching her. And she watched them back.

"Define 'worse'," She questioned, glancing up at the robot expressionless head piece. It turned to look at Natalie again, before responding.

" _Bad."_

Natalie glared at him, before shaking her head and muttered, "Damn robot…" As she turned and walked off, the door sliding open as she approached and closing once she had passed through it. MUTT stayed where he stood, tapping a few keys on the screen built into the door.

Matthew turned to look aside at the faint _hiss_ of the door, asking, "How's Tanya?"

"Acting like a caged animal," Natalie replied, before looking over to Savage and asked, "Why is she doing that, anyway? Thought it was that dagger that caused her to act like this?"

Savage lifted up from tapping at a keyboard, and gestured for Kyle to keep an eye on the keyboard. With a slight look of skepticism, Kyle pushed off of the wall and took Savage's place of standing before the machine, side glancing at the small container beside the computer. Inside, the dagger Isaac had recovered was resting, lasers scanning over the entire dagger in all directions.

"I haven't had a chance to look yet, but I'm guessing that the dagger has, probably, mutated the Howler. As I have told you, elements of the Ancient Warriors, such as senses, reaction time and fighting ability, have leaked into your bloodstream and genetics. However," Savage continued, bringing his hands together behind his body. "The dark-energy laced origins of the dagger has…altered the Howler's design. Releasing more…feral aspects of the Warriors."

"So, all the growling and snarling, and that pacing back and forth…That's all because of the dagger?" Isaac asked, leaning forward in the seat he had been situated in shortly after he and Matthew returned. His ankle and lower leg firmly held in place, and a hanging bag of _Instinct_ beside him, feeding the liquid into his body.

"It's the most likely cause," Savage replied, before gesturing back to where Kyle stood. "But with that dagger you recovered, Isaac, I should be able to find a way to counter the mutation."

"Happy to help," Isaac said dryly, waving a hand dismissively as he rested his head back. Natalie shook her head slightly, while Kyle chuckled at the response.

"I'm not sure how long it will take to complete the analysis, and with MUTT making sure Tanya remains secured in the holding cell, it may be some time."

"And what if one of those Demons attack while we're waiting for Tanya to have her rabies shot?" Matthew asked, scratching the back of his head, feeling a bit of dried blood embedded in his hair at some parts.

"Then we'll send the four of you off to fight it. Isaac will have a leg brace to keep any further injures from occurring," Savage responded, gesturing to Isaac again when he spoke of him.

"Eh, at this rate, the bone'll hopefully fix by then," Kyle explained, turning back around to face the others. "I mean, just look at my hand," He added, gesturing to his own hand, now with fingers flexing open and close, turning the wrist around. "Working fine now."

"Just in time for your time tonight," Matthew commented with a smirk, electing an eye roll from Natalie, a shake of the head from both Isaac and Kyle, the former pinching the bridge of his nose, and a slightly cocked head from Savage.

"I still don't understand you humans," Savage said, before he moved back to the computer scanning Batibat's dagger. Kyle stepped aside, letting Savage tap at a few keys of the keyboard, checking the progress of the scan. "Just over half way. Should be ready soon."

At that moment, a red alarm rang out from another computer screen, flashing dimly.

"Aaaand.. there's that Demon," Matthew said, leaning forward to bring his head to rest in the cup formed of his hands, rubbing his face tiredly.

Isaac rubbed his face with an open hand, muttering, "Where is it?"

Savage moved over the computer and tapped a key, silencing the alarm and bringing up a small map of the city, zooming in on a red dot.

"They're in the city. Your 'police' have already started to intervene, and they have those.. armored warriors with their weapons."

"It's those damn 13's," Natalie responded, moving over to look over Savage's shoulder, seeing he had gained access to the city-wide cameras, which showed several Division 13 soldiers getting overrun by groups of Wolkeins, some getting tackled and surrounded by at least three at a time.

"And there's that horned fucker as well," Kyle added, stepping over to have a look, a police cruiser flying to one side from a solid side punch, a bellowing roar echoed, barely getting picked up on the camera.

"You three go on ahead," Savage said, looking either side of him, before looking across at Matthew. "I'll send Isaac when I've sorted the leg out. Then I and MUTT will work on resorting Tanya to normal."

Matthew pushed himself off of the chair, and walked over to stand alongside Kyle and Natalie. The Blue Warrior glanced either side of him, saying, "Ready to hold out until the cavalry arrive?"

"We'll kick their asses before they arrive," Kyle replied, before Savage moved across the room and tapped another keyboard. Natalie, Matthew and Kyle were enveloped in their respective coloured columns of light. Moments later, they had teleported away.

"So.. how much is this going to hurt?" Isaac asked, looking towards Savage, as the wolf turned around to look back at Isaac.

"I'd be lying if I said it would be painless," Savage replied, before adding, "I will check on MUTT and Tanya's condition first, then I'll return to sort your leg out."

"Hurry up, yeah? Just want to get it over and done with so I can help the others," Isaac said, scratching his chin idly as he watched Savage walk towards the sliding door he'd seen MUTT go through earlier.

Savage paused for a moment, still facing away from Isaac, before he shook his head slightly and walked through the door. Siding shut behind him smoothly.

* * *

"How is she?" Savage asked moments after walking through the other door, folding his arms across his chest. MUTT turned to look back at the door sliding, and the movement behind the stationary robot caught Tanya's attention, setting her off another series of snarls and fists slamming against the impenetrable glass.

" _She is showing symptoms similar to what you told me of your kind overdosing on_ Instinct," MUTT informed, sliding a few scales on the screen, tapping another key to bring up a few of graphs.

"Hmm…more feral instincts.. they were never shown this quickly though, not after the diluted doses I've given her. Dagger mutation must've done that. Traditional methods wouldn't work, that dagger should yield some results once it's finished."

There was a moment of silence between the two, bar from the dull thuds from behind the glass. " _He reminds you of him, doesn't he?"_ MUTT asked.

"Hmm?"

" _Isaac - reminds you of Sage."_

"It's in the blood, traits must pass through genetics as well," Savage responded, side glaring at MUTT for a few seconds.

MUTT turned back to look at Savage, before saying, _"I will deal with Isaac's injury."_

"Good idea."

The robot turned away, and walked through the door, the panels sliding shut behind the robot, leaving Savage alone in the containment room, looking as Tanya prowled back and forth along the glass sheet.

* * *

 _"Let's fucking do this,"_ Matthew said, rushing forward moments after they arrived in the city, activating his Howler. Blue light escaped and wrapped around him, taking the vague shape of a wolf in the process. After a brief flash of white overlapping the blue, it vanished entirely and revealed Matthew again, fully armored up in his Beta Armor. Wielding the Beta Spear in one hand, running towards the group of Wolkeins.

Kyle and Natalie ran after Matthew, tapping their own Howlers and becoming enveloped in their respective coloured lights. They both took the form of a wolf head, snarling in the brief gap between appearing and merging with their Warriors.

The light flashed, and vanished to reveal their Black Delta and White Omega forms, armed with their Delta-Dusters and Omega Daggers, respectively. Because of his advantage of running first, Matthew collided with the Wolkeins first, driving his spear through the chest of one Wolkein, then kicking it off the spear moments after.

Ducking to avoid another strike, Matthew stabbed the spear into the shoulder of another Wolkein, pushing it back and releasing the spear. The stabbed Wolkein fell to the ground, the spear falling out of its hold in its shoulder.

Throwing a series of punches at a couple of Wolkeins, grabbing one by the jaw and side of the head. With a quick, and sharp, twist, the sickening _crack_ sounded, the Wolkein standing momentarily. Before Matthew kicked the limp body back, sending it flying into another pair of the foot soldiers.

Locking one of the Dusters into place, Kyle threw a punch to the gut of a Wolkein. The added force given by the release of the Duster sent the Wolkein flying, crashing into the side of one of the surrounding buildings, before falling to the ground.

Locking that one back again, Kyle turned sharply and barely dodged a swinging dagger, slicing the air above his visor. He returned the attack moments later, sending the Wolkein flying backwards into another.

" _Have I ever mentioned how much this is fucking amazing?"_ Kyle asked as he grabbed the wrist of an attacking Wolkein, twisting the arm and kicking the foot soldier back.

" _Yes, and I'd appreciate it if you shut up and get those fuckers out of here,"_ Natalie called, landing in the small gap Kyle was occupying, surrounded by Wolkeins. She stood up straight and gestured behind her. Kyle followed her hand and saw several police officers, trying to hold their own against the surrounding hoard of Wolkeins.

" _Why is it always me that you guys get to get the 5-O out of here?"_ Kyle questioned, blocking one attack with his forearm and pushed it back, adding a kick to send it falling back.

" _It's because you're the most approachable!"_ Matthew shouted, wielding his spear once more, as he threw it at another Wolkein. Piercing through the chest, and bringing the body down to the ground again.

" _I'm the one approaching them!"_ Kyle responded, delivering a punch to one Wolkein. Any more force from the Duster and he was sure that the head would've come off clean. Sure, plenty of green 'blood' came flying open from the tears in the flesh caused by the punch, flying everywhere, even across Kyle's visor.

" _Just fucking get over there, dip-shit!"_ Matthew shouted.

Kyle rolled his shoulder slowly, grunting in frustration as he broke through the circle of Wolkeins. Throwing punches as he ran, driving them into the heads of the foot soldiers, sending them reeling back to the ground, striking the ground with a sickening _crack._

He drew closer to the group of surrounded officers, as Wolkeins tried to climb over their cruisers and snag one of the unfortunate officers and drag him back over the cruiser, into the clutches of the horde. The officer tried to beat the Wolkein off of him, but the tight grip was unrelenting.

At least until Kyle threw a running punch at the Wolkein, sending the body jerking to one side and releasing the officers' arm. The other officers, who had been trying to pull the officer back from the Wolkein, jerked him back behind the protection of the cruisers.

" _You guys are really unprepared to fight, aren't you?"_ Kyle asked, climbing up onto the hood of the cruiser. _"You need to get the fuck out of here before shit hits the fan."_

"You do not have the jurisdiction to be giving us orders!" One of the officers shouted back, over the sound of the fighting going on around them.

" _No, but I'm one of the few who has a weapon that can actually do damage to them,"_ Kyle responded, having an opportunity to enforce his point moments later.

A Wolkein had climbed onto the other end of the cruiser, letting out of an unearthly growl as it went to attack Kyle. He retaliated, blocking the dagger with one forearm before delivering a blow to the torso. When it crumbled to its knees, Kyle knocked the dagger from its hand and delivered another blow to its head.

As the body fell, limp, and rolled off of the cruiser, Kyle turned to look back at the group of officers. _"Now, take your asses, and those Division 13 guys, and get the hell out of here."_

As if on cue, rounds of gunfire sounded behind, and Kyle turned to see a number of fully armored-up soldiers, wielding rifles and firing rounds and rounds into the Wolkeins that drew closer to them.

But they proved little effect - they were quickly swarmed and overrun, and soon shouts and screams could be heard.

" _See what I mean?"_ Kyle asked, before he jumped off of the car and ran towards the nearest group of Wolkeins, swarming around the fallen 13 soldier.

Punch after punch was delivered, knocking the Wolkeins aside and to the ground, green blood spilling around their bodies. By the time he had finished with them, their bodies littered the ground around the body armor. All that remained, that actually _looked_ like a body, was the Division 13 soldier.

" _Jesus…"_ Kyle muttered, looking away from the bloody remains, shaking his head.

He was brought out of his shuddering thoughts when he saw Matthew rolling towards him, on the impact of a forceful hit, before coming to a rest a short distance from Kyle. He quickly ran over to the other teen, helping him get to his feet.

" _Found that horned fuckstick,"_ Matthew said, stepping away from Kyle and looked in the direction he had been struck from.

Sure enough, the same horned demon they had encountered before, the large hulking mass of muscle, trouble and danger, was among the Wolkeins. A police cruiser being held above its head by its massive, muscular arms, facing Natalie, as she kicked back several Wolkeins and tried to put as many down as possible.

" _Give me a boost,"_ Kyle said before running towards the Demon.

" _When?"_ Matthew asked, running after Kyle and quickly catching up with him.

" _You'll know when,"_ Kyle replied.

Matthew turned to look forward just in time to see the Demon step back, before throwing the cruiser forward, flying in a slight curve in the air, directly at Natalie and the group of Wolkeins.

" _Now!"_ Kyle shouted.

Matthew ran forward quickly, before coming to a sudden stop and turning around, bringing both of his hands into a cup on his knee. Kyle ran towards Matthew, turning into a faint black blur before jumping. Catching his foot in Matthew's cupped hands, he launched him into the air in time with Kyle jumping again.

Propelling himself forward, Kyle pulled one arm back and threw it towards the flying cruiser, colliding with the underside, and sending it flying back in the direction it had come from, only now, with a massive dent in the underside, shards of metal landing on the ground like rain.

Natalie turned to look up, seeing the cruiser flying back towards the Demon, and Kyle landing beside her, landing on the back of a Wolkein, driving its body to the ground, and slamming a clenched fist into the back of its head.

" _You can thank me later for the save,"_ Kyle said, getting up, and kicking back another Wolkein.

" _Like fuck will I,"_ Natalie responded flatly, kicking the legs out of another Wolkein, the last Wolkein of the pod, before Kyle delivered the last blow, his fists slamming into its head.

A loud, gravely snarl caught their attention again and they turned to look at the Demon, tearing apart what remained of the cruiser it caught, after getting it thrown back at it.

" _He's pissed now, ain't he?"_ Matthew commented, quickly stepping into line beside Natalie, with Kyle standing at her other side.

" _I see your eyes are still fully functioning,"_ Kyle replied.

" _Not for much longer, if he keeps it up,"_ Natalie dryly finished, before shifting into a better stance, spinning the Omega Daggers around in her hand, gripping the handles once she was holding them facing down.

" _That aside, let's show this fucker what happens when he messes with the Wolf Pack,"_ Kyle said, gesturing to the horned Demon.

" _You got that trademarked yet?"_ Matthew asked.

" _It's a work in progress,"_ Kyle responded, his voice dripping with sarcasm, before he turned to face forward.

With a bellowing roar, the Demon charged forward, his large mass making him slower than most of the Demons they fought, but still a formidable force. Matthew, Natalie and Kyle rushed forward to meet the Demon, the two forces colliding into one another and exchanging blows.

* * *

"This.. should work now," Savage said to himself, tapping a few keys on the screen of the scanner, before stepping back and looking to one side.

With a faint _hiss,_ the compartment door opened and revealed what was inside; where the dagger had been put into, but it had vanished and was replaced with something else.

Reaching a large, clawed hand into the compartment, Savage pulled out a small syringe, filled with a swirling black liquid, with a faint tint of both green and, strangely, a hint of white. Savage looked it over carefully, saying, "You did sterilize this before putting it in?"

" _I sterilize everything, Savage,"_ MUTT responded, his monotone voice passing for flat, as it turned away from the screen he was working on. _"In other news, I've nearly completed the repairs on the Zords."_

"Have you made the modifications I requested?" Savage asked.

" _I did, indeed."_

"Good.. they were an outdated, anyway."

" _Shall I finish the repairs now?"_ MUTT asked.

"No, I need you to help me with Tanya for a bit," Savage replied, gesturing for MUTT to follow him as he approached the sliding door, leading towards the secured room.

" _Very well,"_ MUTT said, pulling away from the computer and following the wolf, his metal, claw-tipped 'feet' leaving a faint metallic tapping sound with every step he took.

The two walked through the sliding door, passing through the blank corridor that connected the two sections of the Den together. The walk was silent, save for the sound made by the sets of claws tapping against the ground, with grooves made in the material after years-worth of use.

Another full minute passed before they turned the corner and approached the sliding door, which slide open just as they were about to approach, letting the two step through before closing behind them briskly.

The sound of the door _hissing_ open caught Tanya's attention. She had been previously slumped against the glass side of the viewing room, her still-helmet covered head resting against the glass. It quickly lifted and looked through the glass, before getting up sharply and slammed her fists against the reinforced glass, leaving dull _thuds_ to echo out, along with her muffled growls. Though instead of keeping it with slamming fists, her fingers uncurled and she began clawing at the glass.

" _The feral instincts are progressing,"_ MUTT observed.

"We need to get this over with quickly. Isaac has just been sent to help them, but they may need all five of them in case the Guardians are required."

MUTT nodded, before he asked, _"How do you plan on activating the serum once you've got it in her blood stream?"_

"I've got an idea," Savage replied vaguely, before he approached a door to the side of the glass screen, Tanya slamming her fists and clawing to the side Savage was closest to, growling lowly.

" _Good luck, Savage."_

"You've been hanging around them for too long, MUTT. There's no such thing as luck," Savage responded dryly, turning the secured handle of the door, and stepped into the small section between the door he had just entered and the secured room.

Putting the syringe into one of his pockets, Savage cracked his knuckles briefly before he gripped the handles of the secured door, twisting them open. Already, he could hear, and feel, Tanya throwing her body against the door, trying to escape.

Not while Savage was there.

Bracing himself against the door, Savage pushed forward sharply, swinging the door inward with such force it sent Tanya flying back to the other side of the room. She corrected herself quickly, however, and snarled under her helmet. She wasn't quick enough to get to the door before Savage had walked in and closed it behind him, the doors locking automatically behind him.

Tanya ran at Savage, throwing wild and wide punches at the wolf man. He easily blocked the untrained attacks, grabbed one wrist and wrapping his other hand around her throat. He forcefully picked her up and slammed her against the wall of the room, opposite the glass window.

Still trying to claw at his sleeved arm, trying to reach up to grab at his face with a feral snarl, as Savage replaced the pinning hand against her neck with his forearm, trying to restrain her without hurting her.. too much.

Now that his hand was free, Savage, trying to keep his muzzle straight against Tanya writhing and snarling under his restraints, grabbed the latches of her helmet and all but ripped the helmet from her head, throwing it to the other side of the room. Bashing against the glass wall, rolling away slowly.

With her helmet now off, Savage looked back and had to jerk his head to the side to avoid her hand, trying to get at one of his eyes. He got a good look at the feral look. "Enough time wasting," Savage growled under his breath, grabbing Tanya's shoulder, releasing the forearm across her throat, and slammed her back against the wall.

This caught Tanya off guard and halted her attacks slightly, making her movements temporarily sluggish, giving Savage the opportunity he needed. Grabbing the syringe from his pocket, Savage ripped the protective cover off the needle tip, turning the syringe in his hand, and stabbed the needle into the side of her neck.

The grip Tanya had on Savage's trench coat sleeve tightened at the stabbing sensation, and her growls intensified momentarily. Though as Savage injected more of the swirling liquid into her blood stream, her pupils expanded and her ragged breathing slowly relaxed.

Ripping the syringe from her neck, Savage threw it aside and pressed the palm of his left hand against the side of her head, and closed his eyes. The markings across the left side of his torso, arm and neck started to glow after a few moments of concentration, followed by Tanya's left eye momentarily flashing white, before returning to their usual look.

Now, however, the feral look, that previously dominated her eyes, was absent.. gone. Her breathing slowly began less ragged, and her grip ever so slightly tightened on the sleeve of Savage's trench coat.

"S…Savage?" She asked lowly, looking up and down the wolf restraining her. "W…What's happening?"

"You going to attack me again?" Savage asked, glaring at Tanya, surprising her with the intensity of his glare, as the markings started to fade out and bleed back into his fur once again. With a slow shake of Tanya's head, Savage finally released her and took a step back. "Alright MUTT, scan her for any of those traces we found."

A faint buzzing started to fill the room, and Tanya looked around; her senses picked up the sound a lot easier, which made for an easier headache. Moments later, the buzzing stopped and MUTT said, _"She's clean - the formula worked."_

"Formula?" Tanya asked, dead confused.

"Something happened to your Howler during the last confrontation with Batibat," Savage explained, placing a hand on Tanya's shoulder to keep her attention on him. "Something must have mutated it, most likely the dagger that Batibat stabbed you with, and you were…altered."

"'Altered'? What the fuck does that mean?" Tanya asked, rubbing the side of her head.

"From what Matthew informed me, he found you in an 'apartment', I believe the right term is," Savage continued, before turning to look through the glass, "Is that right, MUTT?"

" _That is the correct term, yes."_

"M.. Nicole... My dad…" Tanya said to herself, her eyes slowly widening as she whispered, "No…"

"You can focus on them afterwards," Savage butted in, shaking her slightly. "Right now, the others need you - they're fighting the same Demon that appeared during your fight with Batibat."

At the mention of the she-Demon's name, Tanya's expression hardened and she seethed, "I'm going to kill that bitch.. she did this…"

"Use that motivation," Savage said, before he stepped back and stepped through the now open door of the secured room. "But first, I need to check your Howler; look for any remaining damage, and also see if I can add something to it."

"Just... Let's just get this over with," Tanya said, shaking her head, running a shaking hand through her hair. "I need to check on my sister…"

"You can do that afterwards," Savage said as they stepped out of the secured room, with MUTT approaching and reached for Tanya's Howler.

"No, I'm doing it now," Tanya shot back, jerking her hand out of MUTT's reach, glaring at the two.

"You leave now, you're giving them a better chance of taking this world," Savage said, his voice raised considerably as he gestured to the sliding door.

"I don't know what the fuck I did in my sister's apartment, but I'm going to check on her, and if you think.. if you think you can stop me," Tanya responded, shouting back at this point, "Good _fucking_ luck!"

The door slide open, but before she could walk through it, her Howler lit up and growled lowly. Looking down at it, she side glanced at Savage and MUTT before pressing one of the buttons. "Yeah, what?"

" _Tanya, you're back to normal?"_ Isaac's voice said over the Howlers; in the background, Tanya could swear she could hear the others shouting in the background. _"We need you here! We're getting our asses kicked!"_

"Look, I'm normal, from whatever I was like earlier, but I need to do something first," Tanya responded, but Isaac's voice quickly responded.

" _Tanya, please!"_ Was the response, a hint of desperation.

Tanya went to respond, but hesitant and closed her eyes, hitting a closed fist against the door frame. After another moment's hesitation, Tanya picked her hand off the door frame and responded to the call. "I'll get there as soon as I can."

" _Thank you,"_ Was the grateful response, before the comms were cut off.

Tanya lowered her wrist, and glanced back at Savage and MUTT, who were still standing by the glass window, looking back at her. "…Fine," Tanya responded through gritted teeth, before she looked directly at Savage and said, "Do what you have to do to the Howler."

Savage gestured for Tanya to walk through the door, and he followed after her, leaving MUTT in the room alone, to finish up in there.

* * *

Isaac landed roughly on the ground, groaning lowly as he pushed himself to his feet, shaking his head before he ran back towards the horned Demon. His visor, once again, had a crack forming to the side, the crack growing with every forceful step he took among his running.

With a loud grunt, Isaac jumped, turning the sword in his hands to have the blade facing downward, gripping the handle with both hands as he brought the weapon down onto the back of the horned Demon.

But he just _had_ to turn around at that moment.

This resulting in a severe back hand from the Demon, sending Isaac right into the ground and leaving a small crater in the concrete from where he was impacted. Thanks to the suit, the worst that happened to him was he got the wind knocked out of him.

The Demon raised its fist, aiming to bring it down onto the currently stunned Red Warrior, but a great force slammed into its side, knocking its aim to the right. All the fist connected with was pure concrete, leaving a sizable dent right next to Isaac.

The horned Demon twisted its head to the side, glaring at the force that had run into him, which turned out to be the Blue Warrior, who then delivered a forceful punch to its lower jaw. This sent the Demon stumbling to the side, before roaring in anger.

Kyle quickly moved in to intercept a punch from the Demon, throwing a double punch to the Demon's torso, sending it flying backwards, finally coming to land on its back.

" _You OK?"_ Matthew asked, quickly rushing over to stand next to Isaac, offering a hand for him to take.

Isaac looked up at Matthew, then looked down to the hand offered to him. He reached his hand up, only to push the offer aside and getting himself to his feet.

" _We need to end this, now. We've already caused a shit ton of damage here, I wouldn't be surprised if they end up bringing the hammer down onto us.. hard,"_ Isaac said, looking around. The surrounding area of their fight with the Demon had been completely evacuated; from what he had heard from the static-y radio chatter of the cruisers, they had set up a one mile-perimeter no entry zone.

" _I thought Tanya was going to come and help us,"_ Matthew replied, bring his spear up to rest on his shoulder.

" _Maybe Savage is having trouble getting that dagger finalized,"_ Isaac responded.

" _Looks, point is, this fucker needs to be put down before one of us gets killed,"_ The Blue Warrior concluded, gesturing to the horned Demon, who was currently throwing punches at Kyle, and seemed to be growing irritated by the fact the black blur was constantly avoiding the punches.

" _You think I don't know that?"_ Isaac questioned, flicking his sword up into the right position, before he rushed towards the Demon, after seeing that Kyle had taken a hit and was trying to get up.

Matthew rolled his shoulders, before he looked to the side, hearing the sound of running footsteps - Natalie's.

He quickly jogged around the battle, and stopped when he saw a flash of white jump off of a building, landing on the ground just short of Matthew, the momentum of her jump causing her to walk forward a few steps to counteract it.

" _That's the last of 'em,"_ Natalie said, bent over, hands on her sides slightly, heavy breathing passing through the modifier. _"Police are setting up the barrier."_

" _Good, but Tanya still isn't back yet,"_ Matthew said, gesturing for Natalie to follow, as they rushed to help Isaac and Kyle with the Demon.

" _What the hell is taking Savage so long?"_ Natalie asked herself, flicking her daggers out once again, before rushing after Matthew.

The two quickly joined in just as Isaac was struck back, sliding along the ground on his feet, eventually stopping. Matthew and Natalie jumped at the Demon, striking him with their weapons, sending him through the glass window of a large restaurant.

" _That should give us a bit of time, maybe.. a minute, if we're lucky?"_ Kyle said, quickly jogging back to stand with the other three.

" _Let's just hope he's got an American appetite - he'll be there for hours,"_ Isaac commented.

Matthew shook his head, though tensed up when the Demon shifted in the shattered glass, smashed glass and splintered wood he had created on impact.

They all tensed, however, when the faint sound of electrical crackling reached their ears. They all looked around the sky, before Natalie pointed to one specific point. _"It's Tanya!"_ She said.

The three guys looked up, and sure enough, a column of dark yellow broke through the overcast sky, heading towards the ground.

Moments later, the column struck the ground behind the four present Warriors, prompting them to turn around, just as the column vanished, revealed Tanya, all armored up in her Yellow Gamma form, gripping the curved blade she had been gifted tightly.

" _Tanya!"_ Kyle exclaimed, the four quickly breaking rank, to coin a phrase, as they rushed to greet their friend.

The Yellow Warrior dropped the weapon from resting on her shoulder, looking around at the other greeting her; patting her on the shoulder, a firm pat on the upper arm, among others.

" _Back to normal?"_ Isaac asked.

Tanya looked to him, before smirking under her helmet and nodded. _"Normal as I've ever been."_

" _Still pretty fu-"_ Matthew started, but stopped when Natalie gave a sharp jab in his ribs, glaring at him under her helmet. This was more than enough to prompt him to shut up.

" _Look, this is a nice chat and everything, but I think the fucker's getting up,"_ Kyle said, looking behind them to the Demon's shifting legs.

The others who's back was to the Demon all turned around, and Tanya moved forward, moving to stand in the middle of the group, with Isaac to her right and Matthew to her left.

True to Kyle's word, the Demon had got up again, smashing out a pillar of the restaurant, tearing down large chunks of the ceiling with it, falling to the ground as he got to his feet. A look dominated his face, and it was one they could identify as 'extremely pissed off'.

" _What does it take to keep this fucker down for good?"_ Isaac asked himself, grinding his teeth quietly.

" _I think I have something for that,"_ Tanya said, taking a step forward, the others turning to look at her, some wanting to know what she meant, others interested in seeing what she was planning on accomplishing, when they had failed to do so.

Handing Matthew her curved blade, who was a little confused at first, but took the weapon offered for him to take, Tanya turned back to look at the standing Demon, who had gained its footing properly and was now walking towards the group

She raised the Howler up, holding her forearm so the face of the device was aimed at the Demon, and Tanya clenched her fist. A few seconds passed, before the wolf head of the Howler's face started to glow a bright yellow, growling mechanically as the yellow light started to spread across the entire device.

The others watched, in amazement, as the entire thing was soon covered in the same yellow light, which continued to spread across Tanya's forearm, before it shot forward from the Howler. They had expected it to simply strike the chest of the Demon, but no…

It did more than that.

Freeing itself from the Howler, the yellow light started off as a simple, thick beam of light, before it started to take a shape. Sharp cuts and smooth curves in the lights, before it eventually took the form of something that Tanya recognized. And Kyle did as well, just not consciously.

Landing weightlessly on the ground in front of the Wolf Warriors, a large, yellow wolf stood, the light tail lashing from side to side, a brighter light in the eyes focused solely on the Demon in front of him. And not on the four stunned teens, standing behind it.

" _What the fuck…?"_ Kyle said to himself.

" _That's fucking cool,"_ Matthew said bluntly.

Trying to block out the comments coming behind her, Tanya focused on the Light Wolf coming from her Howler. She clenched her fist tighter, and the Wolf snarled; launching itself at the Demon, the weightlessness from earlier vanishing, the moment it connected with the Demon.

Tackling it to the ground, with a gravely roar from the Demon, as it started to tear and claw at the creature, finally managing to get solid strikes and damage done to the Demon.

The others jeered behind Tanya, though Isaac remained silent. He could see Tanya's other fist was clenched tightly, so much it was shaking slightly, and her shaky breaths could be heard over the comms.

The more damage done to the Demon, the more energy it seemed to take from Tanya. Isaac quickly stepped forward, but Tanya raised her hand behind her.

" _This is mine - I've got this,"_ Tanya grunted, not even turning around to speak, but Isaac stopped for a moment. He quickly stepped back into line, though closely watched her.

Finally, the Yellow Light Wolf opened its jaw and latched it around the Demon's throat, shaking its head violently, tearing and ripping at flesh, blood squirting onto the ground and the rest of the Demon's body. It tried to fight back, but the Light Wolf's hold on the Demon's throat was firm.

When the movement finally stopped, and the body went limp, Tanya's Light Wolf faltered and finally lost shape as Tanya collapsed to her knees. Isaac quickly moved forward and caught her before she fell back, her head falling limp backwards.

The Light Wolf vanished completely, reverting to a ball of light momentarily before it returned to the Howler, releasing a faint growl before the light vanished completely into the Howler.

" _Tanya…Tanya…"_ Isaac said quietly, shaking her shoulder slightly, but didn't get a response.

" _Shit. Guys, get the Zords out. That fucker's going to come back, as a big fucker, and we need to be ready. I'll see if I can get her around again,"_ Isaac said, glancing behind him.

Matthew nodded, tapping Kyle's shoulder with a gesture of 'follow me', and both Kyle and Natalie followed Matthew as they rushed off to an area where they could call the Zords.

Shifting to Tanya's side, Isaac slipped one arm under Tanya's knees and the other went to support her shoulders, before he picked her up. Now carrying her bridal-style, Isaac found an alley not too far away from where they had been fighting, and carefully set her down against one of the walls.

" _Tanya?"_ Isaac said quietly, placing a hand on either shoulder and shook her gently, but all he got was a low groan, her head shifting slightly. He quickly lifted his hands to either side of her helmet, and unclasped it, lifting it up and setting it beside her.

Carefully wiping a few strands of hair stuck to her forehead by sweat, Isaac gently picked Tanya's head up slightly, seeing her slowly opening her eyes again.

" _You OK?"_ He asked softly, as Tanya slowly lifted her head from his hand, rubbing her forehead gently.

"Yeah…just takes it out of you," She grunted.

" _What the hell was that, anyway?"_ Isaac asked.

"Savage calls it a Light Wolf. Something about it being an.. embodiment or some shit, of the Howlers. And there was some shit about bonding with the Original Warriors, but I wasn't paying attention to that part," She replied gruffly.

Isaac looked at Tanya beneath his visor, a couple of scans moving across his visor screen, going over Tanya multiple times.

" _Lucky you came when you did,"_ He said softly.

"What are you talking about? You contacted me," Tanya said, looking up at Isaac, a confused expression crossing her face.

" _No I didn't,"_ he replied.

"Then.. how…" Tanya said, before her eyes narrowed slightly and she grunted, "That furry bastard…"

" _Look, you can try and kick the shit out of him later. Right now, we need you to help fight that guy."_

"I need to check on my dad! I fucking nearly killed him!"

" _Use that anger to try and fight that Demon. You can check on your dad later, and I'll try and skin Savage for you. Deal?"_

"Savage is mine!" She growled.

" _Fine! We need you now, though!"_

Tanya glared up at Isaac, before she clenched her fists and snatched her helmet up off the ground. "Let's get this fucking.. _over with,"_ Putting her helmet on mid-sentence.

" _Good… Good, now come on,"_ Isaac said, getting to his feet and offered a hand for Tanya to take, but she rejected it and got up herself. The two quickly left the alley, and ran towards the point where the Wolf Pack Megazord was already formed, in conflict with the grown Demon.

They quickly launched themselves into the air and into the Megazord as it backed off from the fight.

With a brief pair of columns of light appearing in the cockpit of the Megazord, Isaac and Tanya appeared, but almost immediately, Isaac said, _"This is new…"_

Instead of the empty black void they had been standing in for the last few times they fought Demons, the area had been lit up. Revealing the intricately details that covered all of the angled walls of the cockpit. Several sections across the sides and ceiling acted as lights, allowing them to see the others.

Each was standing at a control point, both hands resting on clear orbs, resting in holes of the control panel. Free-rolling under their hands, giving them greater control.

" _Yeah, the furry bastard said he changed a few things to the Zords before sending me,"_ Tanya responded, walking over to the control point situated behind and to the right of Matthew. She moved around the control point and carefully placed her palms on the free-rolling orbs.

Isaac took his own place, at the head of the other four, with two on either side of him, angled to look like a 'V' formation. He placed his own hands on the free-rolling orbs at his control point, and the moment they were rested on them, a great surge of energy flowed through his system.

" _This next part might hurt,"_ He heard Kyle said from his left.

Isaac turned to look at Kyle, before he heard a metallic whining come from directly behind him, and a sudden shooting pain formed at the base of his neck. He shouted out, reaching a hand back to try and find out what the hell it was.

His hand wrapped around a coiling cable, feeling similar to a snake's skin, at the base of his neck, and if he was feeling right, several small latches were holding onto his suit, keeping the cable in place.

" _Isaac, relax,"_ Savage's voice came over the comms, _"It's part of the new process."_

" _I'm going to skin you, flea bag,"_ Tanya grunted audibly, resulting in the others to look around at her.

" _A bit of warning wouldn't have gone amiss,"_ Isaac replied under his breath, slowly pulling his hand away from the cabin, a subconscious shiver running down his spine at the alien feeling. He was sure he felt more, thinner cables jamming along the base of his spine.

" _Anyone else reminded of Pacific Rim right now?"_ Kyle asked.

" _Don't you fucking start,"_ Natalie groaned, shaking her head before looking ahead.

The comms went silent once again, Isaac tightened his grip on the free-rolling controls and said, _"Alright, lets test this fucker out."_

Shifting their stances slightly, the Warriors found a sudden need to close their eyes, but despite that, they could see what was in front of them, the Horned Demon's massive form smashing through the top fifteen floors of an unfortunate skyscraper that stood in its way. The edges of their vision was blurred slightly, like smoke was blocking any view they weren't looking directly at.

The Megazord's stance shifted into an offensive stance, raising its fists slowly. A deep, metallic growl escaped the head of the Megazord, its eyes a deep red as it charged at the Demon, leaving large dents and craters in the concrete and tarmac, kicking up large chunks into the surrounding buildings as they got it to run at the Demon.

The two gigantic beings collided, the Demon being the first to throw a punch; the punch landing firmly on the Megazord's torso, but they held it firm and threw their own attack back. Head-butting the Demon forcefully, bits of metal shards pinging off when their heads connected, but the result was effective, sending the Demon staggering back, giving them time.

The Megazord ran at the Demon again, this time throwing a one-two punch at the Demon's head, though the horns got in the wall a lot of the time. The third punch delivered was an uppercut, sending the Demon reeling back, its head jarring upward at the punch.

Staggering back, the Demon bellowed, slobber falling free from the hanging mouth, as it charged forward, its head angled down slightly, the sharpened horns aimed directly at the Megazord.

" _Brace, guys,"_ Isaac said, his body tensing up, and as he did so, he felt a strange, pulse-like surge echo through the cable in the back of his neck. Like.. he felt what the others were doing.

They willed the Megazord's arms up, and with moments to spare, grabbed onto the horns and tightened up their forearms, keeping the horns from getting any closer. The momentum from the Demon carried over into them, the feet grinding against the streets. Tearing up the concrete and roads, more so than earlier, as they were pushed back.

" _Come on… Hold!"_ Matthew grunted under his breath, feeling the Megazord's arms starting to give under the pressure, clenching his fists to tighten up. A couple of pulses passed through the cables and his spine, feeling the others were trying to do the same.

Thankfully, the momentum died down and the two were left standing, a large collection of torn up road, smashed up cars and anything else that got in the way, collecting under the angled feet of the Megazord.

Gripping the horns of the Demon tighter, despite its attempts to rip free of the metal grip, Isaac said, _"Follow my lead."_

" _What do you think we've been doing?"_ was Tanya's dry response.

Isaac didn't respond, gritting his teeth under his helmet, before he and the others brought the head of the Demon downward, driving a knee up in the same motion. Slamming the Demon's face into the armored knee, small shards of metal flying off, some embedding into the Demon, others simply falling to the ground.

They pulled the head up, before bringing it down onto the knee again. And again, and again, and again.

A total of five knees were driven into the Demon's face, before they threw the Demon aside, sending him through a collection of smaller buildings in the process. Several fires and explosions rang out from underneath and beside the Demon's body.

" _Let's gut this fucker,"_ Matthew said.

" _If we're going to do that, I want to make sure we're going to do it. Call in the Grey Steel Zord,"_ Isaac said, looking back at Natalie.

She turned to look back at Isaac, her real eyes opening fully for a moment, and nodded, before she closed them again and activated the comms. _"MUTT, send in Grey Steel."_

" _On its way,"_ was MUTT's response.

Turning one of her hands over, Natalie found the transparent grey orb forming in her hand, the small wolf figurine standing out as a solid piece in the gem. Grabbing it, she firmly placed it in the center of the control point, sending out a small pulse of grey.

" _Grey Steel on its way,"_ Kyle informed, turning the Megazord around to glance behind, seeing the running form of a grey-and-black metal plated wolf. The Megazord turned around again, so its back was to the approaching Megazord, and getting closer with every moment.

The White Omega Zord disassembled from the rest of the Megazord, taking the head and hands away momentarily, before the Grey Steel Zord leapt into the air behind the Megazord, transforming into the exo-arms and fists, connecting to the back, the combined forelegs and hind legs latching onto the back of the arms, closing around the ends to form the fists.

The head attached to the top of the torso, the muzzle turning upward to reveal the underside, the panels separating to reveal the green-eyed, guarded face. It slammed the fists together twice, masses of sparks flying from the metal colliding.

The newly transformed Megazord drew closer to the downed Demon, extending one arm to the side as the collection of black-tails formed in the hand, taking the shape of a black sword.

Turning the blade around slowly, so it was facing down, the Warriors get the Megazord to grip the blade's handle with both hands, coming to a stop standing over the Demon, putting one of its feet over its throat, pressing down.

" _Like you said, Matt,"_ Isaac said, the five of them bringing the Megazord's arms up, raising the sword's blade. _"Time to gut this bastard."_

The sword was brought down onto the Demon's torso, the added force of the Grey Steel allowed them to pierce the leathery skin of the Demon, slicing right through the Demon. It let out a bellowing shout, its hands flying to the blade to try and pull it out, though had no sort of success.

Still digging the blade into the Demon's stomach, the five teens began dragging the sword up the body, slicing into the flesh and internals, green blood oozing out of the damaging slice.

Once a sizable cut was formed, the sword was pulled free of the torso. But that didn't last long. The sword was brought down again, stabbing into new flesh, directly into the area of the chest where a heart would be. Giving a sharp twist, digging into the flesh and internals.

Pulling the sword free, the Warriors all breathed a collective sigh of relief, all slumping against their consoles and opening their eyes.

" _That was a lot easier than when he was smaller,"_ Isaac breathed, falling to one knee, his head and hands resting on the console.

" _You could say that again,"_ Kyle agreed.

" _Now can we get out of here so I can skin Savage?"_ Tanya asked, reaching back to try and rip the cable from the base of her neck.

" _We're going to go back to the Den, and we are_ not _going to skin Savage, OK?"_ Kyle said, glancing across at Tanya.

" _You're not going to, but I am."_

* * *

"You think she's going to be annoyed that we faked the comms?" Savage asked, guiding the Wolf Zords back into their storage places, stepping aside to allow MUTT to take over repairs of the Zords.

" _From what I heard of the comms after the battle, Tanya is after your hide,"_ MUTT replied, stepping aside from working at one computer, and began the repair sequence of the Zords.

"Hmm…" Savage muttered under his breath, before shaking his head and said, "I'll lock teleports to the Den for the time being, give them time to.. return to their normal lives."

" _Scared, Savage?"_ MUTT asked.

"MUTT, I will pour water into your circuits."

" _No comment,"_ MUTT responded, fully facing the computer screen now.

Savage growled lowly, flashing his sharpened canines for a moment, before he quickly stalked off down one of the corridors, saying, "I need to have some time to myself…"

 **~Epilogue~**

The air was quiet, the only sounds were the soft radio chatter of the police radios outside of the room, and the delicate footsteps from inside the room. Forensic investigators, clad in head-to-toe in clean white overalls, goggles and face masks. One carried a camera, carefully moving around the scene and crouching down to get a good picture for evidence.

"Evidence 17: bloody boot print," He muttered under his breath, making eye contact with another investigator and gestured to the previous two bits of tagged evidence, a bloody hand print against the hand railing of the hospital bed, and the scalpel, wedged into the temple of the body resting in the bed.

The other investigator nodded and moved over, the photographer stepping aside and sparing a quick glance to the side.

The door, which had a number of as of yet photographed bloody hands across it, was still open, allowing him to see a number of both police and Division 13 soldiers patrolling the corridor. And even if they were allowed to close the door, it wouldn't stay close.

They had already taken a picture of the shattered door handle and lock, which was just now being bagged.

"Sir, do you have identification?"

The investigator stopped himself from turning away from the door when a voice, presumably one of the officers, questioned. He could see one of them had stepped forward, both of them with hands resting on the pistol at their hips.

There was a hushed exchange of words, before both officers side glanced at one another and the one further forward stepped to one side, bringing his hand away from his pistol. Quickly followed by the other officer.

The next person to enter to room, normally, wouldn't arouse suspicion in the investigator; the man appeared like the usual investigator, wearing the white overalls, completely covering his body and shoes, with a face mask resting around his neck and goggles propped up.

Moving his own mask down, Alistair asked, "Can I help you?"

The other man glanced at Alistair, before he shrugged slightly, responding, "You could help my by telling me all you've found out so far about this investigation."

"This is a crime scene right now. I can answer questions later," Alistair said flatly, going to turn away.

"Considering that I'm taking over the investigation, Mr. Olson, I need to get all of the facts about all that's happened so far."

Alistair froze and turned back to look at the other man. "I'm sorry?" He asked in question.

"Oh, I accept your apology, but I need to know what's happened so far," The other man said, walking around Alistair, mindful of where he stood, and looked around to get a good look at the room. "Come on, I want to know," He added.

Blinking slightly, Alistair stepped forward slightly, saying, "Do you have any ID or something to show who you are?"

"Of course," He said, unzipping his coveralls slightly and reached into his pocket. He pulled something out and flicked it into sight of Alistair.

Alistair caught a glimpse of a gold badge, but familiar enough for Alistair's eyes to widen slightly.

"FBI?" Alistair asked, raising his eyes briefly.

"Mmm," The other man responded, flicking the badge up and putting it back into his pocket, zipping up the overalls again. "Now, bring me up to speed. I really don't want to have to repeat myself."

"…We're still trying to get access to the security cameras both in the corridor and outside the hospital, see what we can find."

"I've got a couple of guys working on doing just that. Should have them within the hour," The man said, standing at the side of the hospital bed and leaning over slightly. His dark brown eyes glancing up and down the pale-skinned body.

"A Mr.. Steele, correct? Fredrick Steele?" The man asked, glancing to the arterial line and heartbeat monitor, both of which had been unplugged and turned off as soon as was possible. "Time of death?"

"We're putting it at roughly an hour, maybe an hour and a half ago," Alistair said, quickly getting over the blunt statement from the FBI agent.

"Hmm…" The man said, before he straightened up and undid a bit of his overalls, reaching a hand underneath. Pulling out a phone, he flicked the screen up and raised it to his ear. "This is E."

"Mm-hm. Okay.. I'll be right there."

He hung up and slipped the phone back into his pocket, turning to look back at Alistair and said, "I want all evidence bagged and tagged ASAP."

With that, he turned around and walked back out of the room, gesturing for two of the Division 13 soldiers to follow him. The two soldiers in the corridor quickly followed after the mysterious man.

Alistair glared after the man as he went out of sight, before another one of the investigators he was with stepped into the room.

"We've interviewed the daughter, she's been put into witness protection," He said.

Alistair nodded, saying, "Looks like we've got a new lead investigator."

"Who?"

"Something E."

* * *

 **There you go; the latest episode. Sorry it took so long to write; been busy with real life.**

 **As usual, huge thanks to my Beta,** **Charlotte 'Charlie' Hartley, for helping me write these stories.**

 **And as always, please R &R. Nf991 signing out. **


	10. Episode 9 - Howl the Night Away

Episode 9 – Howling the Night Away

"I'm surprised you haven't been arrested yet, looking like that," Natalie commented aloud as she approached, her hands resting in her jacket pockets.

Matthew looked around when he heard her voice, pushing himself off the wall, taking his hands out from his trouser pockets, and gestured to himself. "What are you talking about?"

"You look like one of those scruffy drug runners," Natalie replied, looking him over again; the scuffed up trainers, the jacket that looked like it was missing two buttons, along with a torn pocket, and the combat trousers seemed to have a torn pocket.

"Fuck off," Matthew grunted, saying, "I'm much better dressed than those shit-heads. Plus, I don't look like death warmed up."

"You are looking a bit pale, though," Natalie added, gesturing to his face.

Matthew raised a hand to rub his cheek, before shaking his head and said, "Look, you said you wanted my help. Now, you going to continue to insult me, comparing me to such lows, or do you actually want my help?"

Natalie rolled her eyes playfully, but added, "Yeah, I want your help."

"Alright then, follow me," He said, gesturing for her to follow him. "Why couldn't you just get MUTT to fix your phone for you? Chances are, anything minor he can probably attempt fixing it."

"Two reasons; one, because I think MUTT will end up fixing my phone, but have it changed to those secret military channels you hear about. And next thing you know, got SWAT or FBI, or some shit, knocking my door down. Secondly," Natalie continued, "I've already tried that. You were the last resort."

"Nice to see I was so high up," Matthew said dryly, making a mock bow before continuing along the pavement. "What do you mean, already tried that? Couldn't he fix it?"

"No, I just can't get into contact with MUTT or Savage. Whenever I try to contact them, they either ignore me or just cut off," Natalie explained, raising her Howler slightly, though rolled her sleeve back down again, over the device.

"And so, you came to me," Matthew continued, seemingly unfazed that Natalie, and potential himself, were out of contact with the Den. "You never did tell me how fucked up your phone was."

"Pretty fucked," She replied, before she explained. "My brother decided it would be a good idea to test out a video he saw on YouTube. A video that involved my phone, and a couple of 2 story drops. The little shit didn't want to use his phone, 'just in case it went wrong'."

"See, its reasons like that that make me glad I'm an only child," Matt commented, gesturing to Natalie before turning in sharply; cutting off Natalie. She stopped suddenly, glaring. "Bit of warning next time?"

"Hopefully, there won't be a next time. Besides, we're here."

Natalie blinked and looked to the side. She saw Matt walking through the doorway of a small shop. Both windows either side of the door were filled to the brim with both computer and electrical components, and bright, neon advertisement. She didn't know much about computers, but she was sure that a lot of the stuff shown off in the windows looked outdated.

"Pretty shady-looking place," She muttered under her breath, but walked through the door after Matt.

Inside the shop, Natalie looked around; it looked pretty…bare. A few desks were put against the sides, with a couple of computer parts spread across them, all in varying degrees of repairs. Some looked like they had just been taken apart and left there.

Matt walked up to the front desk, and tapped the bell a few times; twice in quick succession, and a third one seconds later.

"Hang on, hang on!" a male voice came from the back room, along with a few, boxes-falling-down noises.

From the smirk that crossed Matt's face, and the way he leaned on the counter, Natalie sensed that Matt found something…amusing.

From the back door, a colored teen walked through, wearing a simple grey shirt, a pair of sunglasses kept in a chest pocket. His hair was black, cut fairly short. He also wore a pair of simple black jeans, though Natalie couldn't see his shoes. But what she could see was his expression, a mixture of shock and annoyance.

"The fuck are you doing here, Matt?" he asked bluntly, bringing his hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose.

"Nice seeing you too, T," Matt responded evenly, smirking slightly. "Hey, listen. That favor you owed me?"

"That was five years ago! You can't use that as an excuse," 'T' exclaimed.

"After all the favors I've done for you, it should still count," Matt shrugged, before he glanced back, seeing Natalie, looking around like she was out of place. "Oh yeah, fuck, uh," Matt said, picking himself up from the counter. "Nat, this is Tyler. T, friend of mine, Nat," He said, gesturing to and fro the two teens.

Tyler looked around Matt, nodding in greeting to Nat, before he gestured to Matthew. "You're friends with this dickhead. I feel sorry for you."

"Don't I know," Natalie muttered.

"Hey, hey... If the pair of you are done trying to insult me, I need to call that favor to help her," Matt said, gesturing to Natalie. "Her brother fucked up her phone, and she needs it fixed."

Tyler looked to Natalie again, before he shook his head and said, "Let me have a look." Natalie reached into her pocket again and pulled out her phone, setting it on the counter. "Jesus Christ…" Tyler said lowly, taking the phone carefully and turning it around, examining it. The screen was cracked to such a degree that there wasn't a single area where there was intact glass, and the back of the case was severely scuffed up.

"Did he fucking drop this from the roof of a fucking building?" Tyler asked. "Copying something from those shitty YouTube 'phone test reviews'?"

"Pretty much," Natalie nodded, she too leaned on the counter and asked, "How much do you reckon this is going to cost? I mean, money isn't too much of a problem, making my brother pay for this out of his own money."

Tyler exhaled slowly, looking over the phone a couple more times before he answered. "I mean, you're going to need a new screen, obviously. And the case, that can be replaced easily enough.. but it's still going to be at least $100. The screens aren't cheap to replace."

"Hey, like I said, my brother's going to be paying for this," Natalie said, reaching back and taking her wallet out.

But Tyler held a hand out, shaking his head. "Nah, wait until after I've repaired it before you pay me. That's if we actually manage to get any of the right make," He said.

"What are you talking about?" Matthew asked, leaning onto the counter once again.

"With those Rangers fucking around the city, we'll be lucky if we don't have the whole city evacuated if they go too far with their giant fucking metal things, and crush half the city," Tyler said.

At the mention of Rangers, Natalie faintly tensed up, her hands slowly moving into her jacket pockets, to hide her fingers tensing into fists. She side glanced at Matthew, and she saw that he seemed to tense up as well, lifting himself from the desk, his posture straightening.

"Uh…yeah…but, c'mon. They've been doing at least _some_ good. I mean, those other fuckers aren't much better," Natalie said, pulling one of her hands free to rub around her neck.

Tyler snorted, shaking his head. "Yeah, right. Like I'm going to back murderers."

The two side glanced at each other, before Matt said, "Uh, listen. We've got to get going, but when you eventually get the screen in, give me a call, yeah? Still got my number?"

"Yeah, probably," Tyler said, shrugging slightly.

"Well, if not, you know where I live," Matthew said, before he lightly tapped Natalie's shoulder and gestured that they should go.

"Good luck being friends with him," Tyler called as they left, before he quickly added, "Hey! You forgot your phone!"

Natalie quickly stepped back and took her phone back from Tyler. Then was when he gripped her phone slightly, leaning in. Natalie looked up, raising an eyebrow. "Be careful around him, OK? Hate to see some unlucky fucker go down because of him," Tyler whispered, glancing behind Natalie, to where Matthew was waiting outside the shop.

Natalie briefly glanced back, before she turned to look back at Tyler. "I can look after myself, but thanks," She said, taking her phone back and slipping it back into her pocket.

Tyler nodded slightly, before he said, "See ya around," As Natalie left the shop, stepping through the door and closing it behind her.

"So, what do you think of him?" Matthew asked as they left the shop, walking back down the street the way they came.

"He seems alright, doesn't like you much," Natalie commented, glancing across at Matthew with a raised eyebrow.

"Ah, he's been like that for years. Don't take any notice, he has his uses," He explained, before he phone went off. He reached into his pocket and checked the caller. "It's Kyle," he said, before answering the call.

"You've got Matt," He said. Natalie could hear the Kyle's muffled voice against Matthew's ear, but despite being hard to hear, she could hear the frantic tone in his voice.

"Something up?" She asked.

Matthew glanced at her, and he replied, "Yeah…Yeah, we'll be right there," Before hanging up. "We need to get to Kyle's work," He said to Natalie, walking off.

"Why?" She asked, quickly moving to catch up to him, slowing down once she was level.

"Tanya's going to be in big shit."

* * *

MUTT walked through the sliding door connecting the main chamber to the secured room, looking around when the door closed behind him. He stopped when he spotted Savage standing to the side of the doorway, standing at the screen, adjusting a number of slides visible on the screen.

" _So this is where you've been,"_ MUTT said.

Savage paused momentarily when MUTT spoke, side glancing at the robotic companion, before he looked away and adjusted a few more of the slides. "I'm making a few of the final preparations for the Secured Chamber," He explained, before he pulled his hand back and looked at MUTT fully. "Did you bring the tablet?"

MUTT nodded, taking the tablet from being connected up to his torso, and handing it over to Savage. Taking the tablet, Savage took a few cables from a small panel connected to the screen, and connected them up.

" _Are you sure about doing this? You could do what you did last time, going into stasis,"_ MUTT asked, stepping forward to the chamber itself, tapping a few controls next to the re-enforced glass. Some of the scratches left from Tanya's time in the chamber slowly vanishing, leaving the glass completely clear, like new, once again.

"It's going to happen one of these days, MUTT; I'll be unable to get into the stasis chamber when it's a full moon. I need to get used to it," Savage responded, his back still to MUTT as he spoke.

MUTT looked back at Savage, as he continued working, before saying, _"But you haven't been conscious during a Full Moon since the Warriors were selected."_

"Like I said," Savage said, pushing the tablet into the wall panel and turned back around. "It's going to happen someday."

The robot was silent for a few moments, before he turned his entire body around to face Savage when he spoke again. " _I highly advise that we enable the teleporter again, and allow the Warriors to stay here for the night. So they can observe what happens, and can learn about it."_

Savage glanced at MUTT when he suggested this, but dropped his gaze and he said, "Fine.. but I'm going to be in the chamber when they arrive. For their own safety," He added, before looking to MUTT again. "Besides, you would eventually go against my orders and unlock the teleporter anyway."

" _I wouldn't go against my programming, Savage,"_ MUTT responded evenly.

Savage scoffed, grunting, "Yeah.. right." Savage then walks past MUTT, heading towards the door and MUTT expected to hear the door sliding shut behind the wolf. But he didn't.

Turning around, MUTT saw Savage simply standing in the doorway; neither in the chamber room, nor in the corridor. Just…standing in the way of the door. " _Savage?"_ He asked. No response. _"Savage,"_ He asked again, stepping forward to rest a hand on Savage's shoulder.

When the cold metal rested on his clothed shoulder, Savage flinched ever so slightly, looking around the shoulder to face the expressionless, plain head of MUTT.

"I'm just.. thinking," Savage replied vaguely.

" _About what?"_

"When we got Tanya back from going full-on Feral, it leaves the spirit - _m_ _y_ spirit - exposed. Whenever the markings I have are visible, it's a sign my spirit is exposed. I'm just hoping that Tanya didn't see anything," He added, turning back around to look into the corridor. "Now is not the right time for them to know."

" _When is, then?"_ MUTT asked.

Savage didn't respond, simply pulling himself free from MUTT's hand and walked down the corridor, eventually disappearing down the far enough. Leaving MUTT standing in the gap of the doorway, slowly lowering his hand back down to its side.

* * *

"Frank? Didn't know you had been assigned here again," A police officer, a woman in her early 30s, with brown hair that came down to the point where her head connected to her neck, said to another officer as he walked by.

Frank paused, turning around to face the woman officer, and smiled stiffly. "Melissa. I was just assigned here instead of doing another patrol around the South End."

Melissa nodded slightly, her officer cap held under her arm, as she asked, "What about Rogers? Thought you and him were assigned to work together."

"Rogers.. had to call in sick. Chest infection," Frank said, just as stiffly, before he added, "Listen, um, I'll be back in a bit. Just need to check something, Anderson's orders for when I got here."

Melissa nodded with a slight smile, though it dropped quickly when a couple of armed Division 13 officers walked between them, wearing full body armor, with armed rifles resting against their chests.

"Never liked those guys.. too cold," Melissa said with distaste, glaring at the back of the 13's heads as they walked out of sight, before shaking her head. When she turned to talk to Frank again, however, he was gone. She looked down both ends of the corridor, but she couldn't see him walking down either end. She doubted he would've ducked into any of the rooms along the corridor, nearly all of them had patients in, from the latest Power Ranger 'incident'.

* * *

One corridor of the hospital, in the level below the surface, the lights were out. If someone were to look at the light switch, however, it would be obvious that the lights were _supposed_ to be on.

But the glass tubes themselves were smashed, glass shattered, littering the ground below each of the long lights. Police tap crossing both sides of the corridor's entrance, warning anybody that crosses it, to never enter the closed-off area. One person didn't care much for these barriers.

Frank slowly approached the police tape, collecting them up in a bunch and crouched under them, letting them go when he passed. Once on the other side, he glanced back the way he came, looking around slowly, revealing this his usually brown eyes were a sickly, acid-green in color. The rest of the eyeball was a deathly black instead of white, and the same black seemed to spread around to the skin around his eyes.

Once he was sure he was alone, he turned back around and walked into the corridor, stepping over chunks of glass seamlessly, crunching underneath his polished shoes. The only sound the filled the corridor was the sound of his footsteps echoing, each echoing a bit softer the further from the corridor entrance he entered.

Coming to a stop when he reached a set of double doors, the small windows in the door completely blacked out. Only a small crack in the two doors could allow any light in, which in the darkened corridor, was very minimal in regards to light.

Pulling on the handle, Frank walked through the now open door, and closed it firmly behind him, turning around, facing the faint green glow that was now evident he was inside the room.

"You're late," Said a cold voice from the shadows, and Frank turned to look at the source.

"I was interrupted," Frank responded, a faint distortion to his voice now, as he moved forward. Thanks to the light provided, it revealed Fear, crouched beside a collection of large, dark green pods. Each one was at least the size of a standard human, and each was giving off a faint, green glow, helping to illuminate Fear's stone-like features, reflecting the armor that covered his torso at the same time.

"What is your report?" He asked, carefully moving his hands across the membrane of the pods.

Frank straightened his back, before he responded. "There was a report that was files in the early hours of the morning, which involved the murder of a one Fredrick Steele. There were a few videos added with the report, filed under an undisclosed officers' name. Though there are rumors of it being an FBI Agent, but those are unconfirmed."

"You think a simple 'murder' case of yours is important to me?" Fear asked, not raising his eyes from the pods. "Hundreds of you humans die every hour, I don't find any of you humans particularly special. In the end, you're all soil under my feet."

"Sir.. it is important that you see the videos."

"And why is that?" Fear asked, annoyance evident in his tone as he got to his feet, bearing down on the possessed officer. But the human stood his ground, only lowering his gaze down when Fear tried to look him dead in the eye. Up close, he could make out the rough texture of Fear's face, and see his own reflecting in the rare spot of polished armor.

"Just.. watch them."

Fear stared at the human for another full minute, looking for any flinching or subtle facial movements, but nothing came of it. "Fine, make it quick," He said at last, grinding his teeth afterwards as he stepped aside.

The officer nodded, stepping aside and approaching one area of the room that hadn't been effected, or had a green pod placed over it. A single laptop. He opened the screen up, and pressed the power button. As the laptop started booting up, he felt the dark presence looking over his shoulder, Fear standing barely a few inches behind him, looking over his shoulder. Despite the closeness, the officer looked over his shoulder and asked, "So, what's with the pods?"

"None of your concern," Fear responded flatly. "You will find out soon enough, anyway."

Not making another comment, the officer turned back to the laptop, looking at the familiar Windows logo in the corner, and pulled a small memory stick from his pocket. Plugging it into place, he opened the folder of the memory stick. In the folder, there were two video files. Glancing back at Fear, he turned back to the screen and clicked on the first video.

This opened up a 17-second video, taking from the perspective of a security camera in the corner of a corridor. It caught someone walking from underneath the camera, and down the corridor, in full view of the camera. They had a hood up, making it impossible to identify who the person was. But it was when they stopped and turned into another room, rolling up their sleeve as they entered the room. This revealed a faint shine of yellow and black as they entered.

And the video ended. Frank felt Fear lean in slightly, looking over his shoulder as he examined the video.

"And the other?" Fear asked, not moving from his spot.

The officer nodded slightly, before closing the first video and opening the second. This one was longer, about 50-seconds, but Fear soon found out it was just the same few-second segment played over and over again, at different speeds.

The first was standard speed. Taken from a camera outside one of the maintenance entrances, the door flew open, barely staying on its hinges and a faint blur left the hospital, gone in an instant.

The next segment was at a much slower pace; the door flew open in slow, jittered movements. The blur was much slower, and with the camera zoomed in, allowed a much better viewing.

Revealing a flash of yellow burst through the door, vanishing into the night.

"Hmm…"

The officer turned to side glance at Fear momentarily, was that all? "Would you like me to leave the laptop on?" He asked.

Silence was the initial response, before he got a proper response. "Yes. Leave it, and go. Find out more about this 'agent' who did this 'report'."

The officer nodded, moving out of Fear's path and walked towards the door again; pausing momentarily to look back, seeing Fear leaning down to the laptop, looking at it like he was looking at how humans were created. Or whatever the correct term was.

* * *

"Seriously? Kyle works at a shitty pizza place?" Matthew asked, stopping mid-step when they rounded the corner, Natalie leading the way.

She looked back at him when he stopped, before she heard what he said and shook her head. "Don't be a dick; I know it's hard, but give it a try. Besides, at least he's got a job."

"I could get one easily," Matthew brushed off, before he continued walking and caught up with Natalie, the pair of them walking again, drawing closer to the dimly colored pizza place.

They approached the front doors, the glass cracked in several places along the edges, and the paint of the door frames had paint chipped away across it. Before they could walk in, Kyle walked around the corner of the store and said, "Hey guys."

Matthew looked around, hand resting on one of the door handles, before bursting into a fit of laughter, bringing his hands down to rest on his knees, trying to keep his laughter under control. "Y-You look.. look fucking ridiculous!"

Natalie looked around, and had to bring her hand up to hide her wide smirk.

Kyle's shoulders sagged, the bright, cyan blue top he wore, accented with a light yellow around the short sleeves and white collar, moving with his arm movement. "Shut the fuck up, guys. Seriously."

Natalie quickly straightened her smirk and took her hand away, but Matthew continued to snigger, leaning beside the door to try and recover his breath. "Please, for the love of God, let me take a fucking picture," He wheezed, taking his phone out.

"Like fuck are you!" Kyle said, quickly moving forward, trying to take the phone from Matt, but he pushed Kyle back and tried to unlock his phone and get a picture.

"Guys! Guys!" Natalie said, managing to get between the two and pushed them apart, grabbing a fistful of both Matthew's jacket and Kyle's brightly coloured shirt, looking at the two of them. "Stop this, and get to the point." She looked back at Kyle.

"Why is Tanya in the shit?"

Kyle glared at Matthew for a few seconds, before he backed off and gestured to one of the closest bench, walking over and sitting down onto it. Matthew and Natalie followed, sitting opposite Kyle as he took his phone out.

"You know, all joking aside, kinda surprised you haven't been fired," Natalie said, leaning on the bench. Kyle glanced at Natalie, but shook his head.

"It's going to happen one day, given how often we get called to deal with shit."

"Kinda like how we're going to get in the shit for skipping classes," Natalie added.

"You _do_ remember that MUTT got into the systems, or some shit like that, right?" Matthew asked, before he added, "Enough shit, get to the point."

Kyle unlocked his phone and turned it around, and pressed _Play_ on the video.

" _Reports have been revealed that the murder of a man in Pax Valley's West Hospital may have been committed by the Yellow Power Ranger,"_ The reporter said on the video, before security footage filled the screen, and continued to repeat itself as the report continued. " _The footage leaked supposedly has images of the Yellow Wolf Pack Ranger leaving the hospital, moments after the hospital staff themselves were alerted to the victim, Fredrick Steele's, untimely demise."_

Natalie and Matthew looked up to Kyle with wide eyes before Natalie shook her head slightly, saying, "This is fucking bullshit. They're just doing this to try and get attention. There's no way Tanya would've done that."

"I'm not saying that I agree with the report, which is utter shit, but.. Tanya isn't responding to anything I'm doing to try and contact her. Phone, text, Facebook. Hell, I've tried Snapchat! Nothing!"

"What about Isaac? Maybe he knows where she is? Or why she isn't picking up?" Matthew asked.

"I've tried that, he ain't picking up either," Kyle said, before turning his phone back to face him, tapped the screen a few times, and turned it back to face the other two. Showing his call history; twice he attempted to call Tanya, then another three times Isaac's.

"How about you guys? You managed to get into contact with MUTT or Savage?" Kyle asked, "Maybe they can help us."

"Tried, but haven't gotten anywhere," Natalie replied, rubbing her face slowly. "Maybe we'll hear from them later."

"Or, maybe we won't be allowed to go there today, or night," Matthew spoke up, gaining the attention of the other two.

"What do you mean?" Kyle said, resting his head on a propped up hand.

"Full Moon tonight, innit?" Matthew said with a smirk.

"Oh, fuck off you," Natalie exclaimed, shoving Matthew with enough force to nearly send him falling off of the bench. But he recovered and smirked at her reaction and laughed, electing a chuckle or two from Kyle in the process.

* * *

With careful hand movements and enchantments whispered under her breath, Batibat worked the orb of swirling black into the gem in the small metal cage. White light came from the connection between the gem itself and the black energy she was feeding into it.

At the sound of tearing behind her, the she-Demon glanced behind her briefly before focusing her efforts back on feeding the Demon energy into the gem, the orb slowly decreasing in size as more energy was fed into the gem.

The tearing sound returned again, and a familiar voice called, "The latest Demon to fall at the Warriors' steel?"

Batibat rolled her eyes slowly, her hands closing together as the last of the Demon energy was fed into the gem, the light where the two connected fading entirely again. "Observant as ever, Fear," She eventually replied, her tone flat.

Fear glared briefly at Batibat, but shook his head and walked closer, folding his arms across his chest as he observed the last steps of the procedure. "So where have you been? Skulking around the Human Realm?" She asked, rubbing her hands together before turning around fully to look at Fear.

But she didn't get a response right away, Fear merely stood alongside her, looking at the gem, as the energy faded into the black. "How many more do you think before the Master is strong enough to reform?" Fear responded eventually, though didn't look aside at the she-Demon.

Batibat glanced at Fear again, before looking back at the podium with the gem sat on it, and folded her arms behind her back. "Depends. How much power it takes for the Warriors to destroy them, and how many we actually send to the Human world to face the Warriors, and either gain their powers or be destroyed."

Fear nodded, before he side glanced at Batibat once again, and carefully ran a hand against his chin, as he said, "I've seen.. 'reports', I believe is the right word the Humans use... Anyway, I've heard that the Yellow Warrior has turned against the Humans.. and killing an injured one at that."

Batibat turned to look at Fear when he said this, before she nodded slowly. "So I have seen. I told you, Fear, one would turn against the other eventually. I always thought that the Humans would be the first to turn against their Protectors. As we can see, it went the other direction."

He continued to glare faintly at the she-Demon, before he stepped back and began walking around the main chamber, looking at the wall where Batibat taken many a Demon from, and sent to their demise against the Warriors.

"Perhaps we should hold back from attacking the Human Realm for now."

Batibat looked at Fear sharply, her eyes narrowed in suspicion, but there was a tiny bit of surprise lingering. "And why would we do such a thing, Fear?"

"The Lunar Cycle. This segment of it is crucial to their power. You _do_ remember how powerful they were, back during the Masters' Reign? Either way, it would probably be best to avoid one of us going out there, until the sun rises on the Human's side."

"Have you been spending too much time in the Human World? Has your intelligence, of what there is, been diminished by their presence?" Batibat asked, her tone one of exasperation. "These are _humans_ possessing the Warrior's power. They probably aren't even effected by the Lunar Cycle like the Ancient Warriors were!"

"That may be true, but.. I'd rather not take the risk."

"When have you ever been concerned with not taking risk?!" Batibat exclaimed, stepping up to Fear, and stopping when she was barely a few inches from him. Clenching her fists slightly, wrapping around the grips of a pair of daggers, hidden behind her long, flowing dress-like clothing.

Fear slowly brought a hand upward, as if going to reach for the sword sheathed on his back. He was just about to start pulling the sword free when a glowing red light came from their side, allowing for the unearthly rumble of a voice. " _ **ENOUGH!"**_

Both Warlords flinched at the powerful, booming voice of their Master, and quickly withdrew their hands from their weapons, and turned sharply to drop to one knee, facing the gem topping the podium. " _ **Your petty squabbling is not worthy of my time. Fear, you**_ **will** _ **send Demons to the Human Realm, regardless!"**_

Fear bowed his head a fraction more at the direct order, before he replied, "Yes.. Master."

A deep, earthly growl echoed from the gem, seemingly vibrating the very ground beneath their feet, before the red glow started to die down. " _ **The Humans will soon know.. they will know…"**_

With those final words, the red glow faded entirely, reducing the gem within the metal pendant to a simple black rock, looking rather innocent if it were in a different surroundings. Once the light had faded, Batibat and Fear rose to their feet slowly, the former turning to glare at Fear, saying, "I know you're got something planned, Fear. I will find out."

Fear side glanced back at Batibat, before he began walking away. The only response coming from him was the echoes of his footsteps across the ground, as he snapped his fingers and opened up a swirling black-and-green portal, tearing open.

"Good luck," He said, glancing behind him before walking through, the portal closing behind him.

* * *

A faint growling woke Matthew up from his slumber, groaning lowly as he pulled his head up from the couch. Looking around slowly, it took him a few seconds to remember where he was.

He and Natalie had crashed at Kyle's place after he finished his shift, and he had decided to take catch up on some sleep while the others did… ' _Fuck knows,'_ Matthew thought to himself, rubbing his head as he brought his hood down, running his hand through his blonde hair, which was spiked to one side thanks to bed-hair.

Another growl caught his attention again, reminding him of the reason why he had woken up. He turned down to look at his wrist, seeing the blue-and-black Howler's eye glow a faint white, the growls steadily growing in volume.

"Nat! Kyle! Get your asses in here!" He called, quickly sitting up and tapping one of the Howler's buttons, raising it up.

Thankfully, Kyle's mom was out, doing whatever her job was. Unfortunately, Matthew hadn't bothered to listen when Kyle explained what job she had.

Natalie and Kyle came rushing through the doorway, into the living room, and Natalie asked, "What is it?" Though she quickly knew what was up when he raised his Howler, gesturing for the other two to sit down.

Natalie took the section next to Matthew on the three-seater, and Kyle launching himself over the arm chair, his legs resting over one of the arm rests, as Matthew said, "You've got Matt."

" _Matthew? It's MUTT,"_ Was the robotic response; made even more obvious by the slight static from the Howler.

"We've been trying to contact you all fucking day, man! Where the fuck have you been?" Matthew was quick to shot, getting a glare from Natalie and a spread hands, 'WTF?!' look from Kyle.

" _I apologize for the lack of responses as of late. Things have been.. busy here. However, I am able to respond now. You need to come to the Den, now."_

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Let's back up a few steps. We have a few questions; like, have you heard from Isaac or Tanya? They've been quiet for fuck knows how long," Matthew asked.

" _Tanya and Isaac? They're already here,"_ MUTT responded, causing both Kyle's and Natalie's heads to perk up, looking back at the Howler.

"Hold on.. say that again," Matthew said slowly, looking at the other two briefly.

" _Tanya and Isaac. They're already here."_

"Well, bring us there! We need to talk to 'em," Matthew said, getting to his feet, Natalie and Kyle quickly following suit.

" _At once. Though, I am inclined to give you a warning, you may not be able to leave for.. quite some time."_

"Wait, what?" Matthew asked, but the comms went quiet and the three were completely covered in their respective colors, and moments later, they were gone.

The only evidence that they were ever there was the TV still on, stuck on the news channel Matthew had left in it on when he fell asleep. Just as they left, the news anchor appeared again and began speaking.

" _Hello; my name is Oliva Myers, PN15 News anchor. The local time is 6:27, and the top news story tonight; 'Can we really trust these Power Rangers, or rather, these Murderers?' Exclusive to PN15."_

* * *

Matthew stumbled a little upon arrival, almost falling to his knees after the light columns dispersed. He recovered before he could fall, however, and quickly got to his feet again.

Seeing that the others seemed to arrive seamlessly, he straightened his posture and looked around; MUTT was at his usual station, tapping away at a couple of keyboards and darting between several screens, and then he saw Isaac and Tanya.

The two were sat against the side of the chamber, Isaac with a tablet in his hand, facing both himself and Tanya, flicking the screen up every few minutes, their eyes following across the screen.

Judging by the expression on Tanya's face - somewhere between anger and confusion, with a bit of devastation thrown in - it looked like they had found out.

"We know," Isaac then said, glancing up from the tablet to the other three. Tanya was brought from the screen as well, looking at the other three.

"You guys don't _really_ believe this bullshit, do you?" She asked, gesturing to the tablet, looking between the other three. Natalie and Kyle glanced at one another, before looking back at Tanya. "…You _do_ know its bullshit, right?"

"Well… you never said you were fond of your dad. And from what I saw…" Matthew said, trailing off as he gestured to her.

Tanya's shoulders sagged slightly, before she inhaled again and glanced up again. "Let me set the record straight."

"I do not like my dad. Not. One. Fucking. Bit. OK? But just because I hate him, that doesn't mean I want to kill him. I mean, yes, that bitch's magic, or whatever the fuck it was, that made me attack him like how you found me, but I'm not a killer. But I'm not like, gone to shit because he's dead," Tanya explained, trying to keep her expression steady as she spoke of the sensitive topic. "All I care about is that my sister is safe from whoever did this."

"But, if you didn't, who the fuck did?" Kyle asked, grabbing one of the chairs against the side of the chamber and sitting on it backwards, his legs going either side of the chair's back.

"You think we have a fucking clue?" Tanya asked.

" _Perhaps if you give me the footage, I will try and enhance it,"_ MUTT said, looking aside and gestured for them to bring the tablet.

Tanya looked to Isaac, as he got up and approached MUTT, handing him the tablet. The robot took the tablet and connected it to one of the computers, moving aside to another keyboard and began typing away.

"What did you mean when you said we weren't going to be able to leave 'unless absolutely necessary', anyway?" Matthew asked after nearly a minute of awkward silence.

Kyle and Natalie both looked to MUTT, as did Tanya and Isaac, as he stopped typing and pulled his hands away from the keyboard, bringing them down to his sides.

" _Follow me; I have time to show you before the process is complete,"_ MUTT said, stepping down from the raised computer station, and gestured for the five to follow.

Tanya and Kyle got to their feet, and the five followed after MUTT, passing through one of the sliding doors. The door they were passing through seemed familiar to Tanya… "This the same one that leads to that chamber I was put into?" She asked.

But no response came as MUTT continued facing forward, the small claws on the end of his feet tapping against the ground repetitively.

" _Be warned, you may be surprised to what you see,"_ MUTT responded after stopping just before the door that lead to the chamber, the teens nearly bumping into one another at the abrupt stop.

"Pretty sure I've seen worse on the Internet," Matthew commented dryly, with Kyle nodding slightly in agreement. Natalie shook her head, bringing it to rest in one of her hands, while Tanya simply rolled his eyes.

MUTT glanced back at the teens briefly, before turning back around and walking forward, the door silently opening to allow him to enter. The teens following after him, seeing that the chamber was encased in completely darkness; the only light coming from the open doorway.

And that was soon gone when the five entered, effectively cutting off any light in the room. They were left there, staying silent for a few seconds, before they became aware of the faint sound that filled the room.

A low.. growling sound.

"Uh.. please tell me that's one of your guy's stomachs?" Kyle asked.

The moment he spoke, however, the low growl was raised to a vicious snarl and echoing bashes. The five jumped at the suddenness of the snarl, before MUTT activated the lights and they could see what the source was.

Savage.

Securely locked behind the reinforced glass screen, his tightly closed fists slamming against the glass repeatedly, and muffled snarls passed through his teeth. His ears were flat against his head, his eyes wide and focused on the five teens. The sides of his muzzle raised, revealing his sharpened fangs, the usual focus and hardened edge to his eyes was gone, letting loose with a wild, possessed look. His usual trench coat wasn't on him, which they found hanging on one of the walls.

"What the fuck's up with him?" Isaac was the first to ask.

" _He is being effected by the Lunar Cycle,"_ MUTT revealed, standing to one side of the glass screen, as Savage began prowling back and forth across the screen, growling continuously, his eyes never leaving from any of the teens. Matthew side glanced at Natalie, smirking, getting an eye roll and a sharp jab in the ribs as a response.

"So, like a werewolf?" Tanya asked.

" _Werewolves are nothing but myth and misjudgment. Savage's new behavior is derivative of his species' ancestry; during the early days of his species, it is said that they drew their power from the moon to hunt at night. To react faster, run longer, kill quicker. The only downside was during the Full Moon phase, this happened."_

MUTT gestured to Savage, who was still pacing back and forth across the glass screen, occasionally stopping to try and stare down one of the teens that tried looking at him.

" _To answer your question, Matthew, the reason why you may not be able to leave unless absolutely necessary, because I cannot risk Savage escaping both the chamber and the Den. There is a high chance that, if he were to get out, there is nearly a 100% chance of human fatalities."_

"Well, since we're going to be stuck here for the time being…" Kyle slowly stepped back, as Savage started growling lowly directly at him, licking his muzzle slowly. "Can we at least get some answers that we've been asking for since day one?"

The others looked from Savage to MUTT, the robot looking between each of the teens in turn.

" _It would seem like a productive use of time,"_ MUTT said, nodding once before gesturing to the teen closest to the door, Natalie, to lead them out.

The White Warrior turned and headed through the now opened door, the others following after her. MUTT was the last to leave, and after a last look back at Savage, slamming his fists against the glass and snarling furiously, he turned the light off and walked through the door, cutting off light once more in that room.

* * *

" _The legends Savage told me that, his species were created by a disciple of their God, Oktrix. The disciple, Zeta, was one of two, the other a being by the name of Animus. Both were supposedly created by Oktrix as the Earth and Moon, drawing their powers from such._

 _These Great Beings were given control over large creatures - you know them as your Zords. Animus, over a sub-group known as the Wild Zords, and Zeta, over the Wolf Pack._

 _Zeta created the_ Homo-Lupus _species, given the nickname, 'Howlers' by Animus, and were allowed to populate the Earth, alongside the early humans._

 _But a rift formed between the two disciples; from what Savage's legends say, it was by Animus' lack of care towards his Howlers. But, as we all know, legends can be misinterpreted by different perspectives but, we'll go with this assumption._

 _The two Great Beings fought, shaking the very Earth that stood beneath them, creating the land masses that exist, to this day. Creating rifts and mountains, gouging the surface of the planet forevermore. The battle was long, but a victor soon rose - Zeta._

 _Rather than destroying Animus, however, he simply.. left, taking his wolves, the Pack, and leaving the land of Man. One of his Wolves remained, however, staying with the Wild Zords._

 _Finding what they believed to be a safe haven, Zeta created the Land of Wolves, and an era of Peace came to the Wolves._

 _Centuries passed without incident, many generations of the_ Homo-Lupus _came and went, before it happened... The Demons Awoke, crawling from the very Earth they lived in, and began attacking the Wolves. But they fought, something the Demons failed to consider. They fought, and they fought well - never stopping, never giving._

 _Zeta saw this, and knew he couldn't simply stand by and watch. So, from his very being, he created powers, drawn from his very power and being; crystals, each containing great powers of the Wolves, and bestowed these powers to five Warriors, each of the five tribes that had formed in this new land._

 _Sage; a calculative, power Warrior. He was gifted with, and harnessed, the Strength of the Alpha._

 _Retu; a Warrior of strength and force, able to tear enemies apart with minimal effort. He was gifted with the Power of the Beta._

 _Yei; a she-wolf Warrior who could blindside Demons with her speed, out-flanking them with ease. She was gifted with the Spirit of the Gamma._

 _Naku; a Warrior, though quiet in nature, proved to be valuable in battle. He was gifted with the Spirt of the Delta._

 _And Zandi; she, like Yei, could out-flank enemies and attack them from behind while others kept them busy. She was gifted with the Spirit of the Omega._

 _With these crystals, they were able to push back the Demon horde, descending into the Earth to face the Master Horror. At the cost of their lives, they attempted to seal Horror away permanently._

 _But, as we can see.. their efforts were in vain."_

* * *

"Wait… Wild Zords? This Animus guy, was he like Zeta?" Kyle asked once MUTT turned off the projected images.

" _Correct; Animus had his own Warriors, but they're final battle was fought over a decade ago. Destroying the Orgs in Turtle Cove."_

"Turtle Cove?" Natalie asked, picking her head up from resting on Isaac's shoulder; she didn't even notice it until she had to lift it up. "The Wild Force Rangers?"

"You know them?" Matthew asked groggily, picking his head, rubbing his jaw slowly as he fought to keep a yawn contained. "Could've asked them fuckers to help us; mind you, probably pushing it for age."

"My cousin lived there; he had to evacuate when those Or.. Orcs? Eh, those Demon fuckers, they're all the same. When they attacked the city."

"There was a wolf creature there, mind…" Natalie said to herself, before Isaac sat up and asked his question.

"Well, why can't we have the crystals by themselves? Why have we got to have the Howlers as, well.. basically cases?"

" _Humans are unable to physically hold one of the crystals. They are simply too powerful. A single crystal, if held by a human, has enough energy and power in it to destroy them on the molecular level. The Howler casing allows you to use them,"_ MUTT explained, as he disconnected the cables from his body and reconnected them to the computers.

"So.. basically, they're the Infinity Stones?" Kyle asked.

" _Infinity Stones?"_ MUTT asked, slowly, like processing the information.

"Ignore him; comic thing," Tanya dismissed.

"Except I'm pretty sure there's no raisin-chinned, Big Bad in space with a massive-ass glove looking for them... And there's only five of 'em, not six," Isaac said.

" _You are wrong."_ The five turned to look at MUTT, who then added, _"There were six crystals."_

"'Were'?" Tanya asked.

" _The sixth crystal, which would give the user the control of the Silver Wolf, was supposedly lost. Savage said that, rumor had it during his time, Zeta himself sent the crystal to the stars - the only safe place he could send it,"_ MUTT explained.

"Why not? Makes as much sense," Matthew muttered, rubbing his eyes. "Anywhere we can sleep here?"

" _There are quarters here where you can rest. Would you like me to show you them?"_ MUTT asked, gesturing down to another door.

"I'll find them later; not tired," Isaac said dismissively.

"I'm good," Kyle added.

But the other three got up, and followed MUTT through the other door, leaving just Kyle and Isaac in the main chamber for now.

"So, what were you and Tanya doing? We've been trying to contact you and her," Kyle asked when the door slide close, turning to face the only other teen in the room.

"She's staying at my place, since her place.. kinda got fucked," Isaac explained, getting up from his seat, stretching out slightly as he returned to walking.

"Is she?" Kyle asked, sitting up straighter. "She never told me…"

"She planned on telling you tonight, if this didn't come up," Was his reply, scratching the back of his neck as he walked.

"W... Wait, wait a minute. Not to sound like a dick or anything, but, how can you.. stay in your place? Since.. well…" Kyle trailed off, falling silent. He didn't want to say the words, not sure how sensitive Isaac was on the subject.

Isaac seemed to catch on, and he stopped momentarily at the command consoles, turning around to face Kyle, the latter noticing that Isaac seemed to actively avoid looking at him.

"My mum; guessing that's what you're talking about?" Isaac asked, his voice ever so slightly softer. Kyle nodded slowly, shifting a little awkwardly in his seat. "I.. got MUTT to get into my mum's savings. She's not.. not going to need it now... Besides, I've got uses for it."

Kyle, again, just nodded. He opened his mouth to say something, but ended up closing it a few seconds later when nothing came out. It was odd how.. calm Isaac seemed about the whole situation. His tone didn't change, save for the lowered tone.

The door slid open once again, causing Isaac and Kyle to look over, to see MUTT walk through, arms resting at his sides. The door slid shut behind him, showing he was by himself.

"The others found a place to crash?" Kyle asked, trying to shift the mood that was weighing down the room.

" _They have. Hopefully, they'll be able to catch up on their sleep. Matthew is currently only sleeping an average of three hours, whereas he needs a minimum of eight,"_ MUTT answered, moving around Isaac and taking his position back in the central podium of computers.

"You scanning him?" Isaac asked, turning to look at MUTT as he walked passed him, bringing his arms up to rest his hands in his pockets.

" _My scanners have been active a lot more since the five of you were given your Howlers,"_ MUTT responded, before he added, _"I will begin processing the video you gave me - we'll soon see who is trying to impersonate Tanya."_

"You have an idea who this could be, since I'm guessing you're not convinced either that that's Tanya," Kyle asked, getting up from his seat and approached, now standing near enough in line with Isaac around the raised platform.

" _I haven't an idea yet, but I know it is not Tanya; it is not her running cycle. And they are two inches too tall for it to be Tanya."_

"You can tell all that from a crappy recording?" Kyle asked, leaning on the slight rail going around the raised platform.

"Kyle, he could probably tell what blood-types we are just by looking at us with his magic scan of his," Isaac commented dryly. He got thrown a look in return. But when he looked away, Kyle did let a small smirk cross his face. This was the Isaac he preferred seeing. Not quiet, not reserved, the dry comments, which only an Englishman could pull off.

" _I cannot,"_ MUTT replied, before falling silent again.

And said silence lasted all of about five minutes. One of MUTT's screens flashed red, and he immediately turned to look at it. The sudden flashing light, combined with the movement from the relatively still MUTT, caught Isaac and Kyle's attention.

"For fuck sake…" Kyle muttered under his breath, bringing his head to rest in his hands, rubbing his face slowly.

"Demon?" Isaac asked.

" _Demon,"_ MUTT confirmed. _"Luckily, its night, there's not many people to be at risk."_

"Then why the hell are they here?" Isaac asked, but shook his head and said, "Guess we get the others up, and see what we can do?"

" _I'll get the others up, you two go ahead. Be aware though, you may experience.. alterations when he step into the moonlight,"_ MUTT warned, side stepping around Isaac and towards the sliding door.

"Wait; what do you mean, 'alterations'?!" Kyle exclaimed as MUTT vanished behind the closed doors, exhaling in annoyance when he got no answer.

"Let's just go and find out," Isaac said, shrugging his shoulders slightly as he added, "What's life without a few risks?"

"I'd appreciate knowing what the risks are. I don't want to fight, only to end up turning into a full-on wolf and try and choke a Wolkein," Kyle responded dryly.

"Ahh, that won't happen," Isaac dismissed, before he gestured for Kyle to follow suit. He rolled his eyes when Kyle just shrugged, before stepping up to have the two of them standing side by side.

Isaac tapped his Howler, and the two of them were enveloped in their respective colored lights, and left the Den in a bright flash.

* * *

"Jesus, never realized how creepy this place looked when it was dark," Isaac said upon arrival, stepping out from the spot he had landed in, looking around, glancing at Kyle briefly.

"You get used to it," Kyle responded, before he gestured forward and said, "C'mon, those fuckers can't be far." He quickly picked up to a jog, followed by Isaac as they jogged down the street, rounding the corner.

The street was shrouded in darkness. All of the lights, normally switched on by day to attract attention of passersby, were off, leaving the sides of the streets bare of color - just the blank signs. That didn't stop them from seeing the Demons and Wolkeins prowling through the open street.

"Wow.. that's a fucker not even a mother could love," Kyle commented dryly.

The Demon had turned to look at the sound of them approaching, giving the two a good look at what it was. A single, massive eye sat in the center of its head, several small horns ripping through the skin of its scalp, forming something that looked like a crown of bony thorns. It's skin looked like it had some sort of leathery texture, with several areas of its body covered by torn fabrics, from God knows where, keeping him decent.. if he had anything that _needed_ to be kept covered.

A low growl came from the under bite jaw, one set of sharpened fangs jutting up from under its lips, and gestured one hand towards the humans, the other hand gripping the handle of a large, wooden club with shards of metal embedded in it.

The Wolkeins all turned at the command, facing the two humans and rush at them, moving in and out of the shadows, as if they were vanishing from sight, only to return as they ran.

"United, we Howl!" The two shouted, raising their Howlers and pressed the crystal, enveloping them in a light. Moments later, and a flash of their respective colors, the Red and Black Warriors stood in their place, shifted into a fighting stance. They rushed at the Wolkeins moments later, drawing their respective weapons.

Isaac landed the first strike, slicing across the face the first Wolkein, kicking it back into another, before moving to the side and stabbing through the chest of a third. With a shout, he rammed against the Wolkein, stabbing through yet another, pulling the sword back. A gargled cry came from one of the Wolkeins as the pair fell to the floor, spilling green blood across the streets.

" _Duck!"_

Isaac looked around, before he quickly dropped and rolled out of the way as Kyle punched through where he had been standing, landing a solid punch on a rushing Wolkein. The force sent it flying backward, smashing through one of the store signs. Electrical sparks showered onto other Wolkeins, as shrapnel and fragments fell, littering the street.

" _Bit more of a warning next time?!"_ Isaac exclaimed, jumping to his feet and ducking to avoid another Wolkein's attempts at punching, returning it with one of his own. The body fell to the ground, stunned by the punch.

" _I said 'duck',"_ Kyle replied, side stepping a dagger throw and throwing his other fist at the Wolkein, nearly knocking its head off entirely as the body followed the head's movement. But he turned to the other side when he heard a loud snarl, followed by the ground vibrating beneath their feet.

" _Duck!"_

" _What no-shit!"_ Isaac exclaimed, not reacting in time, like Kyle had. The metal-embedded club smacked into him at full force, sending him flying back rapidly; only coming to a stop when he had smashed through the second floor wall, above a Korean fast-food place.

" _Fuck…"_ Isaac groaned under his breath, pushing himself onto his hands and knees, chunks of rubble falling off from resting on his back, using one of the other walls to support himself. He lifted his head when he heard multiple, frantic voices from another room.

" _Shit… I'll pay for that later!"_ He called out, before running out of the gap he had made, landing on the sidewalk and assessed the situation.

Kyle had just jumped back from a swing from the cyclops, and tried to throw a punch at it. But judging by how he got backhanded, flying into another building across the street, it didn't go very well for him.

With a grunt under his breath, Isaac ran at the Demon, adjusting his grip on the sword and threw it at it, though it was quickly deflected, digging into the ground. But this gave Isaac the chance he wanted - the cyclops' single eye focused on the moving sword, forgetting the approaching Red Alpha Warrior.

This meant that the knee jarred into its jaw came as a total surprise to it, the jaw rocking to one side as it turned from the impact, falling onto the ground, face first, as Isaac landed where he had jumped from. Quickly recovering and standing straight again, Isaac rushed to the side and ripped his sword from the ground, chunks of tarmac tearing up from the ground in the process.

The faint sound of a pair of boots landing on the ground, Isaac turned to look at his side, seeing Kyle was quickly approaching, holding onto one of his arms momentarily, rolling the shoulder.

" _You fucked him up,"_ Kyle commented, standing straighter.

" _But not enough,"_ Isaac added when he saw the Demon trying to push its hands beneath itself, shaking his head, shaking the stars from his vision.

" _Where the fuck are the others?"_

Isaac's question was soon answered when they heard a faint, electrical crackle from the sky, followed by a flash of white light. Both teens turned around as the columns of lights, now visibly different colors, collided with the ground, only to vanish seconds later.

" _Let's kick this fuckers ass so I can get some damn sleep,"_ Matthew grumbled under his breath, flexing his fingers into fists as he and the two girls stepped forward, approaching the Demon, just as it was getting to its feet.

Isaac and Kyle turned back and walked with the other three, walking side-by-side with each other, coming to a stop a few meters from the cyclops.

That was when they felt it.

Isaac was the first to feel it - a strange, pulsing sensation passing through his body, like electricity. Energy that didn't feel artificial, even though he felt like it should. It felt more.. natural, like, it was supposed to be there. The pulsing sensation passed through one of his arms with more presence, centering on his Howler.

He raised that one hand, turning it around slowly. Though it was faint, he was sure there was a faint trace of bright white energy circling the device, flowing all the way up his arm. His visor paid a major part in seeing it in that way, though.

" _What's wrong?"_ Tanya asked, looking to her side from her position at Isaac's right, noticing the movement and turned to face Isaac.

" _Not sure…"_ Isaac responded, raising his other hand, the pulsing passing through his body to the other limb, more of that white energy passing over his arms.

It grew brighter and brighter, eventually becoming visible to the others, each turning to look in turn, questions overlapping one another. Tanya went to ask another question, and when she look over Isaac, his entire body was outlined by a faint white, pulsing light, focusing around his Howler.

Looking down at her own one, she was surprised to find the same energy, pulsing in time with Isaac's outline, focusing around her Howler.

" _Guys! Check your Howlers,"_ Tanya said, raising her other hand, finding the white energy pulsing around both hands, traveling up her arms.

The others looked at Tanya, Matthew taking a slight step back, before they all turned their gazes down to their arms, finding the same energy was flowing over their arms, a sudden pulsing sensation making itself known.

" _The hell…?"_ Matthew asked, turning his hands around, seeing the energy flow around his hands.

" _Any idea what this is?"_ Natalie asked, looking up from a closed fist to the others.

A mere moment passed before they felt a sudden urge to face the sky, and one by one, they all looked upward. The clouds parted from blocking the Full Moon, its faint light seemingly growing in intensity. Moments later, a bright white column of light came firing down from the Moon, encasing the five of them fully.

 **~Morphing Sequence~**

The Warriors had their arms outstretched to the side, two white twirls of energy spinning around each teen. One end of each energy swirl connected with the Warriors' side, where the black portions, gouging into the colored sections of their uniform. When the energy connected with them, each of their bodies arched and floated a full foot above the ground.

From the energy, it fed directly into the Warriors; bleeding into the black sections, turning them a bright white. Passing across the sides of their bodies, making the black gouges in the colored parts of their uniforms turn into white, fang-like intrusions.

The energy traveled up their arms and legs, circling around the gloved hands and boots; turning the silver into a bright white, finishing them off with a line of each Warriors' respective colors.

Their visors weren't left out. Each side of the visor had an energy line attach to it, a flow of energy passing over the visor. Turning the blacked-out visor to have a faint fade to blue towards the top half.

They landed on the ground again, white boots touching down carefully as they lowered their arms to their sides.

 **~Morphing Sequence Ends~**

The cyclops Demon lowered its forearm from its face, keeping the white light from blinding it entirely, only lowering it completely when the column of light vanished entirely. Once the five Warriors were revealed once again, the Demon growled deeply and approached.

But it failed to notice the white accent to their armor, replacing the silver, as they too took a few steps closer, like they were moving as one.

" _Now this.. this is new,"_ Isaac's voice said, his movements slow and his voice having a faint echo to it now, along with the distorted voice.

" _This is what I call power,"_ Kyle agreed, looking between both his hands when they came to a stop, the Demon still approaching them. He too had the faint echo to his altered voice now.

" _How about we test out that Light Wolf thing with this?"_ Tanya asked, looking at the Demon. While he did look intimating, he was dead-ass slow.

" _Why not?"_ Isaac asked, raising his Howler up, bringing the top of the Howler to face the Demon. The others followed suite, each of their movements almost in sync with the other three.

The cyclops Demon roared and tried to run the rest of the distance between itself and the enlightened Warriors, but it proved to be too late of an attempt.

Almost at once, five colored lights leaped forth from the five Howlers, taking the form of five different colored wolves. With the Red in the center of the five, the Yellow Wolf to the right, Blue to its left, along with Black and White on their other sides, they growled lowly, their eyes glowing a bright white. Baring their 'teeth', glowing a faint white as well.

And on the White Light Wolf, it just seemed like its eyes and teeth were a brighter white light than the rest of its body.

Almost as once, the Light Wolves jumped at the cyclops, the sudden combination of force from the five of them bringing the Demon to the ground, and they began to tear into its flesh and body.

The cyclops tried to fight back, but its arms were held down by both the White Omega and Yellow Gamma Light Wolves, digging their fangs into the wrists. The three male Light Wolves began tearing at the cyclops' flesh, snarls and screams echoing into the darkness.

Only getting picked up by the security camera on the corner of the street, turning around slowly to face the slaughter.

* * *

" _We're recording this, aren't we?"_

"Yep," Responded the other Agent, scrolling his finger across the touch-pad laid out beside his keyboard, zooming in on the scene going on in front of it. A strange, but savage and brutal, scene to say the least. Five shapes, too bright to be made out on the camera's quality, piled on a large, leathery-skinned creature. Tearing it up, and spilling what appeared to be a deep green liquid onto the ground.

" _Pin down the location and send a clean-up crew, along with a SWAT squad,"_ The other voice said.

The Agent turned to look aside, eyes landing on the propped up iPad, with a face, shrouded in shadow, visible. Several small lights were visible behind the figure, computer monitor power buttons.

"Making it happen, E," He said, rolling across the narrow room, and tapping a command into a laptop that was laid out, his fingers dancing across the keyboard.

"Jesus, these guys are fucking up the street…"

" _They'll get their comeuppance soon enough; we'll get the information to start us off with from the Yellow Ranger footage."_

"We got a face for her yet?" The Agent asked.

" _Working on it."_

The Agent nodded slightly, rolling across the room on his swivel-chair, returning to face the screen showing the darkened street. "I think they killed it…"

* * *

The Light Wolves climbed off of the torn and shredded remains of the Demon, more torn shreds of flesh and blood scattered across the ground. No body part looked like it was meant to, and the club lay scattered to one side of the remains, a rib bone lying beside it.

" _I think he's dead,"_ Kyle said, smirking under his helmet.

The others would've rolled their eyes if their Light Wolves hadn't returned to them in that moment. The surge of energy passed through the Howlers, rocking their bodies. Isaac and Natalie fell to one knee, while Matthew stumbled a little. Tanya stayed relatively up straight, though did shake her head a little.

" _God.. you had to deal with that when you did it?"_ Matthew groaned, looking across at Tanya, rubbing the back of his head through his helmet.

" _Yep,"_ Tanya answered bluntly, before noticing the corpse of the cyclops slowly descend through the earth, through a portal of black-and-green smoke. _"Guys, get ready for shit."_

The others looked back, and tensed up in anticipation for what they knew would come.

But they got something _on top_ of what they expected. The cyclops suddenly appeared in the distance, growing in size, larger and larger so he was towering over the skyscrapers, and probably pissed as well, but another portal opened up before the Warriors, and Wolkeins came flooding out, filling the center of the street.

" _Look, Matt, you and me get in the 'Zords, and you three,"_ Isaac said, gesturing to Kyle, Natalie and Tanya, _"Take these fuckers out."_

" _Got it,"_ Matthew said, tapping his Howler and said, _"MUTT, send the Zords out. We fucking need them."_

" _Working,"_ MUTT responded shortly, cutting the comms off moments after.

" _We'll come join you two when we finish them off - shouldn't take long,"_ Tanya said, before looking to Kyle and Natalie. _"Let's get 'em."_

They nodded, before turning into blurs of yellow, black and white, the former two mixed with traces of white instead of the usual black, as they ran at the Wolkeins, scattering a number of them aside when they made first contact.

Matthew turned around at a series of howls, before looking at Isaac. _"Ready?"_

" _Waiting on you,"_ Isaac said, running and jumping, landing in his Zord's cockpit.

Matthew rolled his eyes, chuckling faintly before he followed, landing in his own Zord and linking up, cables connecting down his neck and spine. Gritting his teeth and hissing slightly at the spikes of pain, but quickly tried to push that aside.

As the Megazord formed up behind them, Tanya, Kyle and Natalie continued to utterly ruin the Wolkeins. The enhancements of their suits gave them much faster reflexes, and improved strength, as evident when Kyle through a punch at one Wolkeins' gut, and it sent it right through a wall, sending brick shards flying everywhere.

" _Shit,"_ He exclaimed, before quickly ducking to avoid another attack from behind, and delivered an elbow to its head. Dislodging it from its place, and sending the rest of the body falling to the ground. He heard movement behind him, and turned.

Shouting out, he ducked as Tanya flying-kicked over him, delivering a double kick to a Wolkeins' chest. The sheer force of the impact set it flying backwards, crashing into another pair before all three crashed through one of the shops' walls, leaving a massive hole in the bricks.

" _A bit of a warning, please?"_ Kyle exclaimed, easily blocking one attack from another Wolkein, delivering a solid head-butt to it. Sending it crumbling to the ground.

" _You knew I was coming,"_ Tanya responded, side stepping and tripping up a Wolkein, trying to attack her from behind.

She turned to throw a punch at another rushing Wolkein, but just as it was about to reach her, its body went limp and fell to the ground at her feet. A black-and-white dagger stuck out the back of its head. " _Come on guys, pick it up!"_ Natalie's voice called over the commotion.

As the three continued to slaughter the foot soldiers, above them, Isaac and Matt fought with the cyclops, the Megazord blocking attacks from the club, and delivering attacks of its own in the form of its sword, slicing across the torso.

" _Those three are taking a long time,"_ Matthew said, his eyes opening briefly to say this, closing them once again to keep the Megazord's movement as smooth as he could.

" _They're doing their job, fucker. Can't say the same for you,"_ Isaac commented, his eyes still closed and focused, as they brought the Megazord back, bringing both hands to hold onto the sword handle, flexing its fingers slowly.

At that moment, three beams of light appeared in the cockpit, revealing the other three Warriors once the light vanished.

" _Took you guys long enough,"_ Matt commented dryly as the others hooked up to the Megazords' systems, cables and wires embedding themselves down the spines of three.

" _We're here, aren't we?"_ Tanya commented at Matt, taking a stance similar to his and Isaac's. Kyle and Natalie followed afterwards, reinforcing the stance they held.

That was when Natalie noticed something. " _Tanya? Your cables…"_

" _What about 'em?"_

" _They're.. glowing."_

Tanya glanced back to look at Natalie, before reaching a hand around to grab some of the loose cable length, looking around. Sure enough, the cables connecting down the length of her back were glowing a faint white, whereas normally, they were grey in color. She looked across at Matthew and Isaac, and found that their cables were glowing the same white shade as well, assuming that Kyle and Natalie's cables were the same, since she couldn't see them.

" _Think the 'Zords getting an upgrade?"_ She asked.

" _Looks to be,"_ Kyle responded.

From the outside, several panels of the Megazord started to glow a faint white, ranging from panels around the Yellow Gamma Wolf's head, to the back of the White Omega's hands, as well as the chest panels of the Red Alpha.

The five then felt a sudden surge rush through them, forcing them to extend their arms out to the sides, their Howlers growling intensely.. like the Howlers were controlling _them,_ or the Zords were.

The Megazords' arms stretched to the sides, the several panels glowing white to a much brighter shade, making it look like it was a blinding day momentarily. Probably waking up people across the city in the process.

The cyclops growled and raised its hand to block the light, stepping back, crushing a couple of small buildings in the process, small explosions going off.

By the time the light died, the Megazord had a couple of visual differences - several of the panels across the front, glowing slightly. Even the eyes of the Megazord had changed color; a light blue in color, the head tilted up slightly.

The Moon shone down onto it, unobscured by any clouds.

" _We're not the only ones with an upgrade,"_ Natalie commented, she, along with the others, lowered the Megazord's head to face the cyclops, noting the small fire breaking out by one of its feet.

A low, rumbling growl vibrated around the five teens; though they felt their Howlers momentarily, finding that it wasn't them.

" _Guys.. what's that growling?"_

" _Ain't my stomach, that's for sure,"_ Matthew muttered.

" _Is it the… Zords?"_ Kyle asked, looking around slowly. The others opened their eyes briefly, looking around the cockpit; glowing a faint white, like the panels.

" _Look, we'll finish this and then we can ask questions to MUTT. Right now, let's kill this bitch,"_ Tanya said, closing her eyes and willing the Megazord's movements, joined by the others moments after.

Both hands gripping the handle of the sword, which had changed from a matte black to a matte white, glowing in patches, before they moved towards the cyclops.

And ended up rushing it at speed, the blade arching down and stabbing directly into the chest of the Demon, the blade going through the toughened flesh cleanly, the sharpened tip tearing the flesh of the back, green 'blood' dribbling off of the end.

" _Wow!"_ Isaac exclaimed, his body, along with the others, rocked forward and back from the sudden stop to the momentum, before finding themselves in the position they were in. He hadn't expected them to move _this_ far.

Despite this, he helped the others hold the sword in place for a few seconds, as the Demon gagged on its own blood, the club dropping to the ground shortly beforehand. Its free hands grasped at the Megazords' arm and shoulder, clawing desperately for a hold to pull the sword out.

But this proved little effect, as its body slowly fell backwards, the blade slicing further into the body as it was pulled free. It eventually fell off the sword entirely, falling backwards, almost collapsing on a number of buildings.

Black-and-green smoke enveloped the body before it could, however, and it burst into flames, lighting up the sky like it was day outside, flashing for the second time within the battle. The sky was aflame for a few minutes, before the fires died down, revealing that the body was gone.

" _Good, fuckers gone and burst into flames. Good. Cool. AWESOME!"_ Matthew said, exclaiming suddenly as he kicked the base of the small podium before him, snarling in frustration.

At the kick, the growling echoed around the cockpit and it rocked slightly, almost sending Matthew stumbling. He turned his head to the side sharply, before he grunted and rubbed the side of his head.

" _Whatever."_

" _ **Treat them with some respect, would you?"**_

Matthew froze when the echoing voice suddenly appeared, looking around. _"What?"_ He asked, trying to pull the cables free from his neck and spine.

The others froze at the voice as well, looking around the cockpit, briefly wondering if that was one of the Zords speaking to them. If that was the case, they needed to make sure they were actually taking _Instinct_ and not some other drug.

They had their answer soon enough.

From a large crystal that was embedded in the ceiling of the cockpit, which none of the Warriors had taken the time to notice, a thick beam of light descended. If the teens were still hooked up to the Megazord's eyes, they could see the moon shining down onto the Megazord once again. Seemingly _only_ on the Megazord.

A thick, opaque beam of white light now stood in place before the Warriors, before it began to warp and morph, shifting into a shape. This wasn't any sort of normal light…

Before the Warriors' eyes, the vague outline of the humanoid shape was visible, stepping forward from the column it had morphed from. It resembled a blank-human shaped, with not unique features, like a Wolkein, but.. it radiated none of the evil that the foot soldiers did.

It took several steps forward, drawing closer to the Warriors; each trying to take a step back, attempting to remove the cables and better defend themselves, in necessary, but that was when it stopped.

And _split._ Into _five_ of itself.

Two moved to the original's right, two went to the left, the central one looking between the four that had split from it, before focusing its gaze on Isaac. The other four seemed to stare blankly at the other four Warriors, and with no visible eyes, or any eyes at all for that matter, it was a little.. unnerving, to say the least.

The Warriors looked between themselves slowly, almost afraid to avert their gaze from looking back at the.. things, of light. Matthew looked at the 'thing' standing before him, and cautiously raised his hand.

" _Don't."_

Matthew looked aside at Isaac, who was looking at him, shaking his head slowly. He slowly lowered his hand once again, curling it into a tense fist.

" _ **So you are them?"**_ The central light figure asked, taking a small step closer to Isaac, stopping so it was standing on the other side of the podium to him. _**"The Wolves… MY Warriors?"**_

" _Y.. You're Zeta?"_ Isaac asked slowly, briefly glancing to both sides before looking back at the central figure, the other light figures had turned to look at the central one as well.

" _ **In a manner of speaking."**_

The other figures slowly turned from facing the other Warriors, and returned to the central one; morphing through it, merging into a singular figure once more.

As the last one merged with together, the central, now single, figure of light looked across the five Warriors standing before it. At that moment, for a brief second, the faintest outline of a sleek, smooth wolf head appeared over the 'head' area.

The head tilted slightly, as if pondering, before it turned its head up to the crystal that shone down.

" _ **Too early?**_ _ **Yes…Yes, perhaps…later date, possibly…Yes. Yes…"**_

The others looked around at each other, wondering who, or what, this figment of light was talking to.. if it was talking to anyone. It turned back to look at the Warriors, before the column of light enclosed the figure once again, vanishing mere moments later.

Above the Megazord, and high in the sky, the Moon, which had been dimmed slightly, brightened significantly. Though it did become more obscured by cloud.

" _Um.. what the fuck was that?"_ Natalie asked, looking at the others from her position at the back.

" _Whatever it was... I need to lay off the meth,"_ Matthew muttered, reaching his hand back to tear another couple of cables from the back of his suit.

 **~Epilogue~**

"Nothing on this camera."

"Check the next one."

The agent, a female wearing a pair of black trousers and a black suit jacket over a white blouse, glanced aside at the other agent sitting along the table from her. The agent was staring intently at a pair of the monitors fitted before him, one hand resting on a small mouse, clicking and zooming in on something on the screen.

"Alright.. next camera. Camera 17-TF," The agent replied, tapping the white keyboard that sat before her and opening up the video recording of another camera. The footage opened up on the other monitor the other agent wasn't looking at. "There you go, E."

Agent E glanced at the other screen, clicking the other video to pause and gave his full attention to the new video. "Position?"

"Positioned opposite the street to the hospitals main entrance - usually keeping an eye on the road for speeders."

E nodded slightly, focusing on the screen as the footage played.

For the most part, there wasn't any movement on the screen; the only proof that it was playing was the time moving forward in the bottom corner, but his grey eyes never left the screen, moving slowly across screen.

Movement then caught his eye.

Darting to the position, the bottom right corner of the screen, he saw the back of a woman's head as she walked down the road. Though the quality was bad, he could make out some of the more outlined details.

"That's them," E said suddenly, getting the other agents' attention.

"How can you be sure?" The agent, Elise, asked.

"Same design on the back of the hoodie. Location and timing is too coincidental to be someone else," E responded, before his eyes focused on another point and he gestured to Elise.

"Pause."

Her hand snapped over the mouse, pausing the image.

"Rewind 1.9 seconds."

Elise moved the mouse and rewound the footage slowly, pausing when the requested time had elapsed. E gestured to the screen, and Elise rolled over to look at what he had caught his attention.

And it was staring right at them.

"We've got a face," Elise concluded.

The figure had stopped in the middle of the screen, seemingly for no reason, but had turned to look back at the camera. Looking at it directly; not something either side of it, but directly at the camera.

"Get a face scan going," E instructed, briefly glancing aside at the female beside him.

Elise nodded and moved back to her usual place, tapping at her keyboard. The screen was copied over onto her own, and several scans zoomed in on the face of the woman, digitally isolating the face, and enhancing it.

As she worked away, E turned back to look at screen, the image still plastered on the monitor, leaning in slightly to see if he could get a better look. Something seemed.. off. Might have been that smirk plastered across the digital face. But even then, something didn't.. seem right. She looked at the camera, almost knowingly.

"We've got a name."

Elise's words broke E from his focus, and turned to look at her. "And that name is…?"

"Tanya Steele, his other daughter."

E focused in on her screen, which showed a provisional driver's license, with the same girls face plastered in the top corner, with that usual, unreadable expression they had you pull when your picture was taken.

"We got a picture of her wrist?" Elise asked.

E glanced at her, before he moved over to his computer and tapped the keyboard, switching the screens over to show Elise a screenshot. It was a zoomed in image of the same one she had been analyzing, but instead of the face, it was focused on her torso. With one of her sleeves rolled up, revealing a small part of black and yellow metal.

"We got any confirmation?"

"It's her," E responded with a low exhale, leaning back in his chair.

"We've got one of them.. one of the Rangers."

"Hopefully, she'll lead to the others," E replied. "Get a scan going on the other cameras throughout the city, see what you can find of her."

"What am I looking for exactly?" Elise asked as E got up, walking towards the door of the room.

"Anyone she hangs around, around her age. Around.. four others."


	11. Episode 10 - Lightning Strikes Twice

Episode 10 – Lightning Strikes Twice

" _Why can't we get any rest from these fuckers?"_ Tanya grunted under her breath, as she adjusted her recovering slouched stance, standing up straight once again.

She and the other five were in the middle of another Megazord back; not even a week after they skewered that cyclops Demon. A large portion of the city was enveloped in fire and rumble, with fire crews and paramedics rushing out to various parts of the city.

Division 13 soldiers had rolled out, assisting the police with evacuating sections of the city where the titan-sized battle was taking place. Civilians were rushing in the directions indicated to them by the police, some of them bloody all over, others with temporary bandages wrapped around their injured body parts.

" _Because they don't care about what we want?"_ Kyle responded dryly, rolling his shoulders a couple of times, before bringing his fists up in a fighting stance, alongside the others.

" _Fuck off,"_ Tanya growled.

The Megazord's fists raised up, its fingers flexing around the closed hand it had formed, facing the approaching Demon. Massive antlers sprouted out the sides of its head, a deep brown in color; small, sharpened points shot out of the main branches, perfect for attacking enemies. Several sections of the leathery skin looked as though it was stitched together, leaving sections uncovered, revealing the glowing, dark green energy flowing through its system.

A deep, low growl escaped through its misshapen jaw, some teeth blunt and some sharpened, as he bellowed, drool hanging off from the teeth on its upper jaw. The large fists slammed against its torn and tattered chest, the sound echoing across the city.

It sudden charged forward, smaller buildings getting crushed under its large feet, reducing them to rubble and flames, chunks of street torn up and thrown across into buildings, causing further damage.

" _Brace!"_ Isaac shouted, shifting himself into a defensive stance, followed by the others, leaning forward slightly with both hands spread out. The Megazord copied their movements, the slowness from the hulking mass of metal meant that they were barely in position in time before the Demon collided with them.

The five shouted out, different levels of tone and pain, as the Demon collided with them, the Megazords' hands wrapping around different points of the antlers. Though that didn't stop some of the smaller antler points stabbing into the forearms of the Megazord, tearing through the metal plates, making them fall to the ground, and land on the tops of buildings and the ground.

" _Son of a bitch!"_ Matthew grunted, feeling pain flare up in his arms. He was sure the others were feeling the same sensation. Due to it being his Zord, however, the pain seemed to be more intense than the other times.

The force from the Demon's run up pushed the Megazord back, it feet sliding along the ground as the Demon's feet continued to push for its charge. The Megazord's feet collecting rubble, building remains and trashed cars as it was pushed against its will.

The five, with their muscles tensed up, flexed their fingers and, as one, brought one hand up and pushed the other down sharply.

The resulting action from the Megazord twisted the Demon's head sharply, sending it towards the ground instead of sending its momentum against the Megazord further. It stumbled, falling over and sending it rolling across the city, tearing down multiple buildings.

" _Kick his fucking face in!"_ Isaac shouted, the five carrying the Megazord over to the recovering Demon, delivering a devastating kick to the side of its head. The Demon fell to the ground again, before they brought the same foot down on the back of its head.

With Matthew leading now, the Megazord grabbed onto one of the antlers, lifting its foot up and bringing it down onto the Demon's head repeatedly. Driving its head into the ground, creating a large crater in the city, splattering the glowing, dark green blood all over the streets and any remaining buildings.

A savage screech came from the Demon's broken and dislocated mouth as the foot came off of its head, and came crashing down onto the base of the antler it was grabbing. Now clean off, with green blood spewing from its newly created stump, the Megazord threw the antler across the city. It appeared to end up landing outside the city's borders.

The stomping to the head continued, grabbing onto one of the extensions of the single remaining antler, the head barely recognizable as a head at this stage. All that remained was the shattered remains of a skull, and the base of the antler that was pulled free when too much of the skull had caved in.

By this stage, the teens finally stopped beating the dead horse, as it were, and released the other antler, letting it come crashing down, coming to rest by the remains of the Demon. As it began to evaporate into the black-and-green smoke that came around it, the Megazord stood straight, the teens inside the cockpit sighing in relief.

" _Fucking hell.. I ache…"_ Matthew muttered as he reached around, ripping the cables from his spine and neck, as he pulled himself from his position in the cockpit.

" _Man up,"_ Tanya responded, stretching her neck by rolling her head from side to side, groaning under her breath as the bones creaked quietly.

" _MUTT, we killed Deer-Man here. Beta's going to be needing a repair,"_ Isaac informed, speaking into his Howler now that he too was disconnected from the Megazord's cables and wires.

" _I'm not going to be able to teleport you back here,"_ MUTT responded through the comms, along with the faint tapping of a keyboard in the background.

" _Why not?"_ Isaac asked, raising his head slightly to look between the other four teens. They looked back at Isaac, hearing his response to whatever MUTT had said.

" _I'm sending you north of the land mass. To the region that you know as Canada."_

" _Canada?"_ Isaac questioned.

" _Why're we going Canada?"_ Natalie asked, looking between the others.

" _Our sensors have picked up two energy signatures from two more Wolf Zords. We need you to go there, identify which ones they are, and get them under control once again."_

" _You like throwing us into situations without giving us much detail, don't you MUTT?"_ Isaac asked under his breath into the Howler, exhaling slowly.

" _I give you all the details I have at hand."_

" _Whatever,"_ Isaac responded, before cutting the comms off and told the others, _"Looks like we're going to Canada."_

" _Why're we going there?"_ Tanya asked.

" _Apparently, there's a pair of Zords we need to get back."_

" _That it? Anything more to tell us?"_ Natalie asked.

" _You think I wouldn't tell you if there was anything else?"_ Isaac shot back.

" _Whatever, let's just go there and get this shit over with,"_ Matthew said, waving a hand dismissively.

" _Hope you guys have your passports, since we're going to Canadia-Land,"_ Kyle commented, gaining looks from the others.

Matthew went to hook up to the point he should have been connected to, but the Megazord was enveloped in a column of mixed colored lights, before it completely vanished from sight, leaving the destruction and damage from the previously length battle in its wake.

* * *

"Hmm…nearly ready…few more hours should do it…"

Fear gently ran his hand across the glowing, dark green membrane of the strange pod, his stone-grey face awash in the color. His eyes drifted over to the other glowing pods that filled the room, spreading themselves across any remaining free spots of what used to be a large, empty room beneath a place of human healing.

He probably should make an attempt at permanently learning what the name was, but with what he had planned for the near future, he didn't feel the need to learn the proper name.

"When you were going to tell the Master about this?"

The cold, level voice brought him out sharply from his thoughts, and Fear froze, his hand half-way through the process of a stroke, ever so slightly tightening the hold against the green membrane.

He briskly pulled himself to his full height, his back still to the source of the female voice, until he turned around. The corner of his mouth twitched slightly, and his jaw visibly tensed slightly when he got conformation of the source.

Batibat stood in one of the clear spots on the ground, her arms folded behind her lower back, a slight scowl, seemingly permanent across her face, as she glared at her fellow Warlord. "I'll ask again," She said, taking a couple of steps forward. "When did you intend on informing the Master of your actions here?"

Fear's hands came to rest by his sides, slowly curling into a pair of fists, as he copied Batibat's movements, taking steps to meet Batibat in the middle of the small clearing between the pods.

"In time, he will find out," Was his response, a venomous edge to his tone.

Batibat's eyes narrowed slightly, before she quietly asked, "Is that a threat, Fear?"

"Do you take it as one, Batibat?" Fear responded, the two Warlords now nearly toe-to-toe, each glaring at each other unblinking; naturally, Batibat looking up to make up for the height difference.

The two stood as they were in silence, time slipping by. Seemingly not wanting to be the first to move, but waiting for the other to react to some figment of the imagination making it look like they moved. Eventually, Fear reacted.

He leapt back, drawing his sword from its sheath across his back, and brought it slicing down across Batibat, aiming to slice her open. She reacted quicker than he would have wanted, her daggers came flying from behind her coat/dress hybrid clothing, twirling in her fingers, before coming to cross in front of her just as the sword came crashing down over her.

Sparks flew when the blades connected, before Fear brought his sword back and delivered a kick. The attack connected, sending the she-Demon flying backward, bursting through the double-doors into the corridor.

Fear rushed to follow after her, but paused just as he reached the still faintly swigging double doors. He glanced back over his shoulder, before reaching to his face and pulled three of the spines from one cheek.

Despite his faint grunt at the mild irritation, with a flick of his wrist, the three spines went flying, each one embedding itself into one of three different pods. They pierced the membrane, firmly placing themselves in the strange-feeling protective layer.

"Looks like the process needs to be pushed forward…" Fear muttered under his breath, before he turned back to look ahead and rushed through the double doors.

He barely got through the doors when he had to step back, to avoid a swinging dagger from the side taking his face off. Batibat hissed as she stepped back, side-stepping from side to side to avoid Fear's slashing sword, adjusting the hold on her daggers to return the strikes with strikes of her own.

She quickly ducked to the side as Fear brought his sword down at her, the tip digging into the wall of the corridor, jerking his arms sharply to try and remove it from the wall.

He turned to keep an eye on the she-Demon, and got a flying kick to his jaw for his efforts, his head jerked to the side from the force, before snarling as he released the sword for now, leaving it embedded in the wall.

Batibat stabbed one dagger forward, but Fear grabbed her wrist sharply as it came in, bringing his other tensed hand to her elbow, with enough force to break a human bone. All that resulted from it was a faint snarl from Batibat, and her hand releasing her dagger.

Throwing a punch to push the she-Demon back, Fear's reflexes allowed him to grab the dagger handle before it could hit the ground. Turning it in his palm, he gripped it again and turned his neck from side to side, getting a few cracks for his effort.

"You know, I may have let you join my ranks, Batibat. You could've been my Lieutenant," He mused, though never took his eyes off of the ever shifting she-Demon.

"Like I would ever serve you, _Insaan!"_ Batibat hissed, throwing in an insult in their tongue, as she twisted her dagger to face downward, summoning another from behind her, and rushed at Fear.

The Demon rushed to meet her, aiming to bring the dagger onto the she-Demon, and used his size and strength advantage to his fighting style.

* * *

Matthew groaned lowly, picking himself up from the floor. _"That.. could have gone smoothly."_

" _Maybe if you hadn't got out of your position, you wouldn't have face-planted,"_ Tanya responded as she adjusted the stance of the Megazord, the other three assisting her with the efforts.

Rolling his eyes, Matthew pushed himself onto his feet and twisted his torso around.

The sudden jerk of the Megazord landing from its teleportation, combined with the fact that Matthew hadn't hooked back up to his cables, he was sent flying across the cockpit upon landing. Didn't help with the fact that they had landed on uneven ground, and the Megazord had to adjust for the uneven landing.

After managing to right it afterward, Matthew hooked himself back to the cables and wires at his podium, arching his back slightly when they began slicing through his suit and flesh.

" _Now, where're these Zords that we're here for?"_ Matthew, helping turn the Megazord around, so they could get a look at the land around them.

Which wasn't helped by the thick snow fall almost blinding the Megazord's visor.

" _Why did we have to go to a place that's always three feet deep in snow?"_ Kyle asked, looking across the length of the Megazord's visor, but all he saw was a blanket of white, with small segments of barely visible buildings and lights.

" _It had to happen somewhere - why not here?"_ Isaac responded, though he too sounded a sliver annoyed by the lack of visor, before he reached forward to the podium, tapping a few buttons.

" _Give us thermal."_ The visor for the Megazord, from the inside, slowly broke down into segments and flipped over again, locking together once more; only this time, they could see varying areas of color of thermal.

" _Since when did MUTT get thermal vision in this thing?"_ Natalie asked.

" _One of the many upgrades to these things after Fear decided he liked us as much as the previous Warriors,"_ Isaac responded, before he gestured to the visor. _"That look like a fire to you guys?"_

Five pairs of eyes followed where Isaac was pointing, and they took note of the various, layered colors of a flickering, flame-y mess. It seemed relatively close as well, probably less than a mile away. Several smaller ones were also notable, though they could have been further away or just smaller fire spots.

" _Reckon they're from our 'friends'?"_ Tanya asked.

" _I don't know. If it was, you think there would be a lot more fires in a line where they decided to make their path,"_ Natalie pointed out.

But at that moment, Kyle suddenly gestured to the side, just out of the visor's reach. _"Guys! You see that?"_

The Megazord slowly turned to the left, Tanya asking, _"What was it?"_

" _Lightning, but.. it was moving sideways."_

" _Lightning can do that anyway,"_ Matthew replied dryly.

" _Not that close to the ground it can't,"_ Kyle responded, before he gestured to another fire within sight of the visor. This one seemed larger, starting closer to where the Megazord was standing.

" _Um.. guys?"_ Natalie said, looking aside at the others.

" _Yeah?"_ Isaac asked.

" _Anyone else getting any read out on their scans? Because I'm getting two big hunks of metal on the radar,"_ Natalie said, tapping and moving a few controls. This resulted in a large radar being projected in front of the five. It showed a large circle of the surrounding area they had landed in, with the central, blue blip representing the Megazord.

And in front of the Megazord, though the readout was hard to make out distance-wise, were two more blips, a dark blue in color, making small leaps between blips.

" _That them?"_ Kyle asked.

" _Well it ain't Gypsy Danger, that's for sure,"_ Isaac muttered under his breath.

" _I wondered how long it was going to be before someone tried to reference that fucking movie,"_ Matthew said with a shake of the head.

Isaac was about to respond, but Tanya cut him off. _"Look out!"_

She tried to get the Megazord to side step, but the others didn't know what she was trying to do or get away from until it was too late.

The thermal visor caught a bright, broken bolt of white light filling the central of the visor, before they were struck with a great force of energy, lightning rushing over the front and back of the Megazord. Lightning crackled through the metal Zords, reaching up the cables.

" _Shit!"_ Matthew exclaimed when they were first hit, managing to slam his fist on the emergency release for the cables on his podium, launching him onto the ground, just as the cables became electrified.

The others weren't as fortunate.

Their combined shouts and screams combined in the cockpit, echoing off of the walls, as the electrified cables sparked across their backs, electrical arks covering their torso, wrapping around their heads. Matthew pushed himself up, before exclaiming, _"Shit!"_ As he noticed the others.

He quickly scrambled between each of them, slamming his fist on their emergency release button, their bodies falling limp to the ground, unconscious.

" _Guys! Guys!"_ He exclaimed, kneeling beside Isaac and flipping him onto his back, bringing the side of his head close to his chest to see if he could get a heartbeat.

A rapid beat at that.

He quickly moved over to Kyle and Natalie, checking they were already and tried to get them into the correct recovery position, since he wasn't experienced with how to deal with victims of electrical attacks. Doing the same with Tanya, he quickly checked to see if his cables and ports were rid of electricity.

Quickly finding that they weren't, Matthew quickly connected himself in. Though unlike previous times, he grunted and adjusted his stance to keep from fallen when a great, invisible weight formed on his shoulders and back.

" _Must be what Isaac felt…"_ He muttered to himself, adjusting his stance fully and tried to bring the Megazord back around from the hit, trying to find out what attacked them.

At that moment, the apparent snow storm blocking their view clear. The thermal visor switched back to the regular visor, and Matthew could see the attacker.

Or, rather, _attackers._

Standing a short distance away, flames and crushed buildings beneath their paws, along with the rubble of destroyed buildings, stood two metal Wolf Zords. They both looked the same size, around the size of the Yellow Gamma or Black Delta Zords. Though while one had a mixture of black and crimson-colored panels across its body, like blood splatters across a black slate, the other had the same areas colored, though instead of crimson, a deep navy blue was visible.

Both appeared severely scratched up, large panels across their bodies and head. They both seemed to glare at the Megazord; the Navy one through dark green eyes, while the Crimson one had a light blue.

" _Uh…"_ Was all Matthew said. It was all he could think of saying. " _Good... Good wolves?"_

The pair of Wolf Zords growled lowly, the metallic sound echoing around the city, and seemingly in the cockpit as well.

" _Uh… MUTT?"_ Matthew asked into his Howler. _"I think we've found the Zords we were after."_

At that moment, the two Wolf Zords before the Megazord adjusted their stances, digging their claws into the concrete and tarmac below, and their tails straightened, creating a straight line from the tail tip to the back of the neck. Their lower jaws dropped down, and Matthew got an alarm across his helmet's visor; an energy pulse alert.

" _Shit."_

His eyes widened when a pair of electrical balls of energy, one dark green and the other a light blue, belonging to the Navy and Crimson Wolf Zords respectively. Their heads arched back slightly, before shooting forward again and a pair of electrical bolts escaped the two mouths. Energy sparks flew as they traveled through the air, barely reaching the Megazord's torso before Matthew had time to move it.

Matthew exclaimed and shouted in pain as the energy pulse rocked through his cables, electrifying all along his spine. Energy sparked around his body, his visor looked about ready to crack, electricity focusing around the head.

Feeling suddenly faint, Matthew felt himself slip into unconsciousness, slumping back against the cables and supports. The last thing he remembered seeing was the sky, coming more into view as the Megazord fell backwards, its front sparking and smoldering…

* * *

" _ **Matthew… Matt…."**_

" _Uhhh.. fuck…"_ Matthew groaned as he turned his head around, his eyes still tightly closed, a great, throbbing pain seemingly embedded in his brain.

" _ **Well, looks like he ain't dead…."**_

" _ **Good.. didn't want to be the one to give him mouth to mouth…"**_ A distinctly male voice worked its way into his head.

" _Like fuck you would, Kyle,"_ he growled, lifting his head slightly and opening his eyes a fraction. Closing them quickly when the blinding light found its way into his eyes. After growing accustomed to the brightness, Matt opened his eyes again and looked around.

First thing he noticed, he wasn't in the cockpit anymore. Tall trees, bare of any leafs or pines, reached into the sky from his perspective. His slowly curled his hand against the ground, feeling, and hearing, the faint crunching of snow. He didn't feel the cold, though.

Next thing he picked up on, which really should have been the first, was Natalie leaning over him, helmetless. She pulled back when he tried to sit up, but pressed a hand on his shoulder.

"Slow down, hot shot," She said, tightening her grip and pressed him back down on the snow. "We all got pretty fucked up by those attacks."

" _How badly?"_ He asked, batting Natalie's hand off his shoulder and sat up again, groaning as he supported himself back a tree, where his head had been resting against.

" _MUTT says we've got second-degree burns along the length of our backs."_

Matt turned to the right, seeing Isaac standing to the side, leaning against another tree across from the others, arms crossed over his chest, the Howler facing up.

"Instinct _taking care of it?"_ Matthew asked.

" _Yep,"_ Isaac responded, before he tapped his Howler again and asked, _"MUTT, got anything on those Zords yet?"_ No response came immediately, causing Isaac's shoulder to sag slightly and to exhale lowly. " _Where'd the Zords go?"_

"Do people who're victims of electrical burns always ask questions _?"_ Kyle's voice asked. Matt looked to the other side, seeing Kyle sitting against another tree, helmet resting in the snow beside him, knees drawn up against his chest.

" _You're one to talk, asshole,"_ Matthew said dryly.

Kyle rolled his eyes, staying silent as he leaned his head back against the bark.

"MUTT got us out and get the Zords back to the Den before anyone could get near them," Natalie responded, grabbing her helmet and getting to her feet, walking over to Tanya, who was facing away from the group, her helmet moving minutely every few seconds. "See anyone yet?"

" _Nothing on thermals,"_ Tanya responded, glancing aside. _"How's fuck-face over there?"_

" _Screw you,"_ Matthew responded.

" _Yeah. Like you'd have a chance."_

" _Guys. Knock it off,"_ Isaac said sharply, lifting his head slightly to look at the others.

The four turned to look at Isaac at the snap, before his Howler lit up. Before he gave it a chance to even start growling, Isaac quickly pressed the button and said, _"Got anything MUTT?"_

" _I got the feed from the Megazord,"_ Savage's voice responded, but Isaac didn't react like they used to.

" _And?"_

" _They are the Lightning Brothers - Crimson and Navy Lightning, to be more specific. As you could see from their attacks, they are able to wield lightning, taking it directly from the sky and storing it until necessary, and use it as a weapon."_

" _But why would they attack us? Wouldn't they recognize the other Zords?"_ Isaac asked, glancing up at the others and their surrounds briefly.

" _They've been apart from the Pack for over 10,000 years. We were just lucky that the White Steel wasn't too far gone. The Lightning Brothers, however, appear to be showing aspects of going Rogue."_

"' _Going Rogue'? We've got phrases for shit like this?"_ Matthew asked.

" _Care to explain how we deal with this, Savage?"_ Isaac questioned, trying to block out the dry comment.

" _One of you will have to go into the Spirit Realm, and find their tainted Wolf Spirits. Then, the person will need to bring them under their command once again,"_ was Savage's response.

"' _Bring them under our command?' What, like, prove to them we're their Warriors or some shit?"_ Kyle asked.

" _No,"_ Savage said. Even through the Howler's comms, Isaac could hear the disbelief in Savage's tone. Like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

" _How are we going to do it then, Savage?"_ Isaac asked at last.

" _Asserting your dominance over them. Showing them that you are their better. You must beat them until submission,"_ Savage explained.

" _So, which one of you is going to go in the Spirit Realm to find them?"_

Isaac raised his gaze upon being presented with this question, looking between the others.

" _Those fuckers are mine."_ Matthew's voice broke the silence of the forest. " _I'm going to get back at them, and show them you don't mess with me,"_ He further stated, slowly pushing himself to his feet, using the tree as support to do so.

" _None of us are in a decent state to go to the Spirit Realm,"_ Isaac then said.

" _To hell with that shit! Regulation, and restrictions; what do you think this is, a military operation?!"_ Matthew exclaimed, stepping up to Isaac.

He lowered his Howler as Matthew approached, clenching his hands slowly into fists.

" _Enough, the pair of you,"_ Natalie snapped, now donning her helmet, and quickly got between the two; pushing Matthew back a few paces. _"Focus on the task at hand."_

The two males glared at one another for a few moments, before Isaac raised his Howler and, still in eye contact with Matthew, asked, _"What're we going to need to send him to the Spirit Realm, Savage?"_

" _I'm having MUTT send the sedatives and the activators over now,"_ Savage said.

" _Guys,"_ Tanya suddenly called out.

This finally caused Matthew to lower his glare at Isaac, and the others to turn to look at Tanya. _"What is it?"_ Kyle asked.

" _Police - at least three different groups. On snowmobiles, closing in fast,"_ She said, glancing back to the others. _"We've got to go now."_

" _Savage, hold off sending the stuff for now,"_ Isaac said, as Kyle got to his feet and replaced his helmet back on his head, sealing up. _"We need to move to avoid detection. I'll contact you again when we've reached a safe location."_

" _Find a safe place quickly. I'm not sure how long it'll be before the Lightning Wolves try to leave the location."_

With that, the comms closed, and Isaac looked to the group, gesturing behind him. _"Come on guys,"_ He called, half turning, walking backward before turning the right way again, running in the direction he had previously gestured to.

The others followed suite, the five fading into blurs of their respective colors across the snow. The only trace of the presence was the uncommon footstep lodged in the snow.

* * *

"Unit NS-003, reporting in."

" _Report."_

"No sign of any of the Rangers or the unidentified creatures they've been seen with," The Division 13 soldier said, speaking into small device around his wrist, the metal plate against the bottom of his wrist, a faint green light flashing every few seconds.

" _Any unusual activity?"_

"Nothing on the scanners. However, one of the officers has been acting.. strange."

" _You have the officers' name?"_

"Frank Derson," The soldier responded, glancing up and down the corridor briefly. Only another couple of people were in it with him. Another Division 13 agent, the rifle attached to a strap around her torso, and a pair of police officers, patrolling the length of the corridor.

" _We'll see what we can find about him."_

"Alright," The soldier replied, before his attention was caught by the crackling radio of his partner.

She grabbed the radio from her hip and asked, "Repeat, over."

" _X-Ray corridor! X-Ray corridor! Disturbance! All Units, respond and assist!"_ Came the crackling response, repeating twice more, with a few words obscured with static.

She turned to look at the other agent, before replying, "Units NS-002 and -003, responding."

"Come on Clint," She then said, gesturing down the corridor as she supported her weapon, running down the corridor. The heavy soles of her black boots echoing down the smooth floor.

The soldier, Clint, quickly jogged after Rylee, instinctively applying his hold around the rifle handle and underside of the barrel, as he followed her down the corridor. The officers turned to look back at the rushed footsteps, seeing the pair of soldiers rushing off.

The two pounded down the stairs, the elevators were out of service with the repairs taking place, and tried to keep pace with the other. They descended down another two floors, before pushing through the double-doors of the correct floor.

"Which ways X-Ray?" Clint asked, upon reaching a cross in the corridors, giving three different options.

"This way," Rylee responded, gesturing for him to follow, as she took the left and rushed down the corridor. Clint followed after her, unclipping the magazine of his rifle, making sure that it was fully loaded, and locked it back into place. Flicking the safety on once again.

They burst through another set of double-doors, the faint sound of bullets flying and pinging off walls. This only made them want to push harder, slamming through another set of double-doors, now finding themselves in the X-Ray corridor.

And they were met with quite a sight.

Firstly, Clint had to skid to a stop upon bursting through the doors, and grab onto Rylee, to prevent the pair of them falling into the massive hole in the floor. Parts of the floor were still falling from the edges, into the service corridors below.

Further down the corridor, two.. things appeared to be fighting, armed with old-looking swords. One was clearly female, the other was male, though the latter only looked male, since the bronze, black and brown armor was so bulky. And what wasn't parts of his body wasn't covered in the armor had a stone-grey, rough-looking 'skin'.

The female, meanwhile, had a deathly pale skin and long black hair, the tips fading to a faint green. A long trench-coat-style jacket hung around her finger, dropping down the length of her body. Despite the long, and heavy-looking, article of clothing, she moved with speed and precision to counter the attacks of the other, bulkier creature.

"Duck!" Clint exclaimed when bullets started flying again, from the other Division 13 soldiers at the opposite end of the corridor. All barrels aimed at the two creatures that had apparently burst through the floor.

But they simply pinged off of the creatures' bodies, deflecting off of the armor, even the bare skin, and pinging off into the walls, floor and ceiling of the corridor.

Despite this, Clint and Rylee both flicked the safety off for their guns, and began firing small bursts of bullets at the creatures. However, they were as successful as the other soldiers. Their bullets flying in different directions, embedding themselves in everything, _except_ their intended targets.

The male creature seemed to pick up on the many soldiers, both in front and behind him, as his eyes drifted between the two points. He easily blocked a strike by the female creature, before he drove his knee upward into her gut, adding a kick afterwards. The resulting kick forced the female creature the ground, before he turned to face the Division 13 soldiers behind him, leaving his back to Clint and Rylee.

"Humans are always pesky creatures. You are no different," He said, his voice rough, like the visual texture of his skin, but with a faint edge of firmness - enough to remind Clint of a General.

He suddenly snapped his fingers, and the lights above them burst, dimming the corridor and making it much harder to see. Bullets began to fly once more, the muzzle flashes the only visible indicator to others of their location.

But the shadowed-corridor was enough for the male creature, it didn't look like he didn't even move, yet it took mere moments for the bullets to stop flying, the last sounds Clint heard was the last of the bullet casings littering the floor.

The sound of a loud hiss caused him to jump back, falling against the wall, as he looked around for the source. It soon became clear it was the female creature.

A large hole smashing through the corridor wall, allowing light to stream in. A male shout, combined with the female creature's hiss, grew faint as they fell through the wall, leading to the couple-story drop to the ground.

Bricks still falling from the new hole in the wall, Clint looked across the corridor to assess the damage, but quickly looked away when he saw the damage done to the other soldiers. Checking on Rylee, who had been knocked out at some point during the creature's attack, before tapping the underside of his wrist device and said, "S... Sir? NS-003 reporting."

" _Report."_

"W… We've had an incident."

* * *

" _That should give us some time,"_ Isaac said, sliding to a stop, skidding across the snow, kicking up small mounds by the sides of his feet.

" _A couple of us should go in a different direction - throw them off the scent,"_ Tanya suggested, coming to a stop behind Isaac, Matthew and Natalie coming to a stop behind her smoothly. Whereas Kyle… didn't quite do the same.

He slid across the ground, but failed to stop in time before he ran headlong into a tree, sending him flying on his back in the snow. A low groan escaping him as he lay there.

" _Well, can't have Kyle go, he'd end up knocking himself out,"_ Matthew commented dryly.

" _Screw you, asshole."_

" _Tanya, Natalie, the pair of you, head in the other direction. Make sure they get at least a brief look at you, so they know where to follow,"_ Isaac instructed. The two girls nodded, glancing briefly at one another before rushing off in another direction, leaving a pair of footsteps in the snow in their wake.

Isaac then turned to face Matthew. _"Sure you still want to do this?"_

" _We got much of a choice?"_ Matthew asked, hands on his hips and bent forward slightly, mechanically-altered pants coming from him.

" _Finally, he's starting to see sense,"_ Kyle muttered lowly as he pulled himself up, rolling onto his hands and knees, breathing slightly heavier before getting to his feet, albeit a bit unsteadily. _"I'm good, I'm good,"_ He wheezed, waving a hand dismissively to the other two.

" _Alright Savage, send us the stuff,"_ Isaac said into his Howler.

And was a bit surprised to hear MUTT respond. " _Sending them to your coordinates now,"_ The robot responded, the faint tapping of a keyboard audible in the background.

" _MUTT? Where's Savage?"_ Isaac asked.

" _He's here, I just answered,"_ MUTT responded, before the comms were cut short. Isaac moved his Howler down at the abrupt end to the conversation, before he held out his hands and found two small balls of light forming in the palms of his hands. Opening them up, a syringe formed in each of his hands.

" _Oh come on,"_ Matthew exclaimed as Isaac turned back to them, seeing the items in hand. _"Couldn't it have been anything_ other _than needles?"_

" _Could've been a rectal insertion,"_ Kyle called out, backing up against a tree and sitting down again, removing his helmet with a faint _hiss_ from the disconnection, rubbing the side of his head.

" _He has a fair point,"_ Isaac added, before saying, _"Matt, sit down against the tree, and we'll get this over with."_

Matthew muttered under his breath as he approached the tree, before pointing out, _"I thought Tanya said when she was given this weird voodoo shit, it was in a bowl."_

" _A bowl wouldn't really be convenient here, would it?"_ Isaac asked, removing the plastic cover of the syringes before glancing back up at Matthew, who was still standing there. _"You going to sit down?"_

After a bit of a glare, Matthew slowly sat down against the tree and removed his helmet, throwing it to the side, leaving it to rest on its side in the snow.

" _Now, close your eyes and think happy thoughts,"_ Isaac said, kneeling on the ground beside Matthew and tapped any air out of the syringe.

Matthew smirked and chuckled briefly, shaking his head. Isaac should take up being a psychiatrist when this is all over. " _If I did start thinking happy thoughts, you'd want to look away,"_ He responded. Earning a chuckle from Kyle and silent glare through the visor from Isaac.

" _Why don't I just skip the sedative and just punch you?"_ Isaac asked, but leaned in beside Matthew and tilted the other teen's head to the other side. Matthew jerked his head to the side, out of Isaac's hand, getting a brief glare from under Isaac's helmet. " _Don't tempt me,"_ Isaac warned.

One hand resting on Matt's shoulder, Isaac carefully slid the tip of the needle into his neck, right into a thin vein. Matthew flinched slightly when the needle slipped beneath his skin, and shifted ever so slightly as the sedative was injected into his bloodstream. Judging by the slightly quickened heartbeat, it wouldn't take long before it took effect.

Pulling that needle free, and throwing it to one side to land in the snow, Isaac pulled the other needle and pressed the tip through another point at the side of his neck, injecting the strange 'activator' that MUTT had sent them.

Matthew groaned lowly, pulling a hand up to grab Isaac's shoulder, but it went through thin air as he missed. His head slowly lopped to the side, trying to fight the sedative taking over; trying to lift his head back up, but failed to do so.

" _And.. he's out,"_ Isaac said, pulling the needle free and tossed it to one side, sitting back. He carefully prodded Matthew's shoulder, and after getting no response, pushed himself to his feet and walked back towards Kyle. Walking around the same tree the other teen was leaning against, he sat down in the snow and leaned back, bringing his hands up to remove his helmet, setting it as his side.

"Where did you learn the right place to inject that shit into people?" Kyle asked, rolling his head across his shoulders to look at Isaac.

"Had a friend who did drugs back home; paid me to get his drugs ready for him; so he wouldn't get any heat on him from the 'Bill," Isaac said, earning a raised eyebrow from Kyle. "Don't give me that look. I got money out of it."

"You got his drugs ready for him in the syringe?" Kyle questioned.

"We've all got to start somewhere," Isaac countered.

Kyle merely grunted, shaking his head a little, before bringing it back to rest against the rough bark. Isaac turned his head back straight, eyes scanning the forest for any sign of the officers. But he had hope in Tanya and Natalie...

* * *

Matthew's eyes snapped open as he gasped, his body jerking up. Looking around, he quickly came to the conclusion that he wasn't in the forest he had closed his eyes on.

Instead, everything was the color of dirty white, and seemed to have small specks flying around slowly. He got to his feet, looking down briefly, finding that he wasn't in his Warrior uniform here. Here, he was in the same clothes he wore pre-Howler transformation.

"OK.. this is weird…" Matthew said to himself, bringing his hands up in front of him, rolling them around briefly. He lowered them again and looked around at the seemingly endless surroundings. "Probably should have asked what the fuck I was looking for."

"OK, OK.. focus. So, Crimson and Navy.. probably should be looking for something like that. Since everything is white, should make things a fuck-ton easier," Matthew muttered, looking around once more before setting off forward. As good a start as anything.

"So this is what it's like to talk to yourself…" Matthew said aloud, stepping around in a circle as he walked ahead, keeping his feet moving forward while he turned with the steps.

"It's fucking boring."

He walked and walked for what seemed like at least half an hour, but that might have been more or less. For all he knew, time in this place moved way, way faster than the real world. And the silence - the silence was almost.. unnerving to most people, but Matthew just focused on what was in front of him, wanting to get this over with, consumed in his own thoughts as he walked.

Though his thoughts were swiftly interrupted.

A faint growl came from his side, and he turned sharply, but there didn't appear to be anything for miles around.. or whatever distances they used here. Nothing that looked like a wolf, which was what was going through his mind about _what am I looking for?_

A faint whooshing sound from his other side caught his attention, and he turned around just in time to get charged by a flash of dark blue, sending him flying through the 'air' and come crashing back down again. He rolled a few times, but tried getting to his feet as quick as possible. Panting a little, he tried to keep track of where the attack came from.

But it was as if it had vanished.

"Fucking hell…" He said to himself, getting up and looking around briefly, trying to prepare himself for the next attack, which came from behind him, sending him flying into the ground, in a flash of dark red.

He groaned lowly, bringing his hand to his lip, feeling the warm blood dripping from his nose and down his lips. Licking his lips faintly, collecting up a few drops of the blood, Matthew grit his teeth and shouted, "Show yourselves, you pair of fucks!"

His voice echoed around the empty clearing briefly, but eventually faded. In all directions he looked in, nothing could be seen.

"When I find the pair of you, I'll fucking skin you alive, you fucking dogs!"

Matthew looked around quickly, wishing, _praying_ , for something to appear beside him - he just wanted to break something so bad. But there was nothing to break. Just.. emptiness.

And two wolves to his left.

 _Wait, what?!_ He thought, turning back around to look left.

There, in a sharp contrast to the white backdrop, two large wolf-shaped creatures of light were visible. One had a dark navy aura around it, the other a dark crimson. Both had small arcs of electricity arching around their bodies in their respective colors. Two sets of eyes glared at him, overlapping snarls echoing in his ears.

"Shit…" He said to himself, trying to decide which wolf he would rather look at, before being reminded of the other wolf and turned back to look at that one. Before the process began all over again.

"So.. about that whole 'skin you alive' thing…"

* * *

" _So, you've fucked him yet?"_

Tanya turned sharply to look at Natalie, asking, _"Excuse me?"_

" _You heard. You fucked Isaac yet?"_ Natalie asked, leaning against the main part of the tree. They had perched themselves on a tree at such a height unreachable by normal humans. They had tried to find a suitable tree with a thick branch to support themselves on, and found this one.

" _Don't know what you're talking about,"_ Tanya replied, shifting a little to maintain balance on the branch they had perked themselves upon, trying not to look down at the great drop below them.

" _I can do this all day, Tanya,"_ Natalie said, shifting a little to turn to face Tanya directly. _"I've seen the looks you've given him. You practically look at him like he was a dog treat."_

" _Did you have to make a dog comparison?"_ Tanya groaned, bringing her helmet down to rest in her hands. _"Did you really have to?"_

" _It seemed fitting."_

Tanya growled lowly under her breath, before bringing her head back up and said, _"What do you care anyway?"_

" _I'm just asking,"_ Natalie said, shaking her head slightly.

Tanya looked away from Natalie again, briefly scanning the forest floor for any sign of the officers. She had drawn them away from where Isaac and Kyle were protecting Matthew, and had hoped they had followed them here.

" _Not yet."_

" _Oh, so you plan on getting 'funky under the sheets'?"_ Natalie asked, and Tanya could _tell_ that she was smirking widely under the helmet.

" _Do you have to sound like someone's mom?"_ Tanya groaned, bringing her helmet back down to her hands.

Natalie just chuckled, leaning against the tree as they fell silent once more, the two looking over at different sections of the forest. The distant sounds of motors whirling, propelling snowmobiles across the ground…

* * *

Matthew threw one of the wolf off of him, sending it rolling across the ground before turning around, just in time to grab onto the navy-furred wolf as it jumped at him. The momentum carried him to the ground forcefully, and pressed up into the wolf's throat.

Pulling his head back as far as he could to avoid the snapping jaws, Matthew grit his teeth, which had grown to have a slight tint of red from the bloody nose, and threw a punch to the underside of the creature's throat.

Kicking it off and over him, Matthew quickly rolled to his front and glared between the two wolf creatures, panting slightly, a number of fresh cuts across his face. Blood stuck to his hair and followed his jawbone.

"I take it back. I'll skin you alive with the others' fucking teeth," He growled, clenching one of his fists, resting the closed hand on the 'ground', as he watched the two creatures closely.

The crimson-furred wolf growled lowly, flashing his bright fangs at Matthew, before it threw its eyes to the navy-furred brother, and Matthew noticed the small sparks across both their bodies start to increase in speed and size.

"This can't be good…" He said to himself, glancing between the two as he got to his feet, taking a few steps backwards. The electrical sparks grew larger and wider across the pair of wolves, and they drew closer to one another.

He quickly tried to rush off in the other direction, but didn't reach fast enough. Electricity came flying towards him, a mixture of crimson and navy as it arched towards him.

Matthew barely ducked in time, but still felt the electrical burn his back, resulting in him falling to the ground, shouting in pain. He lay there, writhing on the floor, as he felt the burning sensation crawling all over his spine, his skin feeling as though it was melting to his bones.

"Fuckers! The pair of you!" He gasped, trying to roll onto his front and look back at the two wolves.

But instead, he was met with a swirling ball of crimson-and-navy, and Matthew swore he was going temporarily color blind, and somehow came across a weird yin-yang symbol.

"Fucking hell…" He groaned, and tried to move out of the way before another strike come flying towards him.

He was sent flying once again when a lightning strike struck the ground next to him, the resulting force sending him to the ground. Matthew writhed on the ground momentarily, rolling onto his side. He was sure his clothes were singed in areas along his back and sides.

He felt another patch of his skin exposed across his shoulder, and the skin was in sheering pain; looks like that _Instinct_ stuff helped blocked the pain more than he imagined.

Spitting out a mixture of saliva and blood, Matthew wiped his mouth, pushing himself to his knees, leaning his head back to try and breath, hands coming to rest on his knees, trying to recover.

" _ **Submit…"**_

The ghostly, echoing voice caught Matthew's attention, getting him to turn his battered body around to face sideways, looking over his shoulder at the mass of electrical energy. Only now, it had been replaced once again by the two wolves.

His eyes shifted onto the glowing navy-furred wolf, before the voice came again.

" _ **You are not our Alpha…"**_

The crimson-furred wolf's eyes glowed with each word, fading out once the speaking became silent. Matthew shifted his eyes back over to the crimson one, letting the words set in.

And a small chuckle started.

The chuckle grew, slowly and steadily, before he let out a short series of laughs, throwing his head as the laughs echoed around the area. But there wasn't any.. heart to the laughs. It was rather.. hollow, and empty.

The two wolves exchanged looks with one another, before the crimson-furred wolf growled louder, its eyes flashing as the words, _**"Submit…"**_ echoed around the creatures.

"'Submit'? Y.. You want me to.. to submit?" Matthew asked, his hand helping to express himself, while his face bore little emotion. In any other situation, before a month ago, he would've made sure he hadn't taken anything if he found himself in this situation, talking to dogs.

"Well.. tough shit…"

Matthew turned around fully, pushing himself onto his unsteady feet, stumbling a little in the process. The pair of wolves tensed up momentarily, the fur across the backs of their necks starting to bristle, growling lowly.

"Because, I ain't going 'submit' to you pair of fucks," Matthew replied, an ever present, dark smirk across his face, with that fake happiness unable to reach his eyes properly. "But, you two, on the other hand…"

He paused in the middle of his speech, noticing a glowing point of blue around one of his wrists. He had failed to noticed that his Howler had come with him into this realm already, but now it was glowing, more so in a blankly colored world, it made it stand out all the more.

A great surge starting to run across his body, starting at his wrists and working its way around the rest of his bod, seemingly starting to grow in intensity around his chest and opposite wrist, which starting to glow a bright blue as well.

The spirit wolves looked between themselves wordlessly, before Matthew finished speaking.

"You're going to 'submit'.. to me."

Matthew's Howler-mounted wrist flicked forward slightly, and a great blue light came from the Howler, the same light extending from his other wrist and above his chest.

The three streams of light formed together, and began to take a single shape - a large, blue colored wolf, at least one and a half times the size of either the two wolves before it. When the last of the light streamed from the points across Matthew's chest, its eyes flew open, revealing a bright white pair of eyes glowing brightly against the blue, glowing fur surrounding them.

Unlike the seemingly 'natural' expressions of the two wolves before it, whose faces failed to express emotion, the new glowing blue wolf stemming from Matthew, let its face break into an unnatural, wild smile. The sharpened fangs didn't seem to pair itself with the jaws of the wolf.

" **You're gonna be** _ **my**_ **bitches now,"** The new blue wolf seemed to say, and though its voice was warped and echo-y, it was evident that the tone and way it spoke came from Matthew's voice.

An echo of Matthew's inner wolf.

With Matthew standing behind it, the large blue wolf bowed down before leaping forward, sharp claws aimed directly at the crimson and navy furred wolves.

* * *

"Hey, something's happening," Kyle said, nudging Isaac's shoulder and gestured.

Isaac's head jerked up slightly, as though he was on the verge of falling asleep, and looked aside to what he was being called to look at. And he shifted off the tree and onto one knee, jogging over the short distance between their tree and the one Matthew was slumped against.

Isaac hadn't noticed the small cuts that were scattered across the other teen's face, along with what appeared to be the makings of a black eye forming across his right eye. His hands twitched slightly every few seconds, his Howler crystal was glowing a bright blue, and growling continuously.

"Shit, he doesn't look like he's doing too well," Isaac muttered, trying to avoid touching the unconscious Matthew, while trying to assess him over.

"Eh, if he gets those 'Zords under control, it'll all be worth it," Kyle pointed out, leaning back against the tree again.. but ended up picking himself up again, scanning the area.

"What is it?" Isaac asked, seeing Kyle visibly tense up and look around.

"I hear something…"

"The police?" Isaac asked, getting to his feet and walked towards Kyle a few steps, glancing back at Matthew's twitching form.

"No. It doesn't sound like 'em.. or smell like them… Honestly didn't think I'd end up saying a sentence like that regularly," Kyle mused.

"So, what is it?" Isaac asked.

Kyle tilted his head slightly, as though trying to listen closely, before he turned back to look at Isaac and said, "Those Demons' fuckers…"

"Wolkeins," Isaac said, before he gestured for his helmet. Kyle quickly got to his feet, grabbing both his helmet and Isaac's, throwing the latter's helmet towards its owner.

The two quickly reattaching their helmets over their heads, Isaac and Kyle quickly maneuvered behind two separate trees, opposite the direction Kyle had heard the Wolkeins approaching.

Now he had his helmet on and the pair of them were quiet, Isaac could hear the sound of multiple, overlapping footsteps a good distance away, but drawing closer.

But.. something seemed strange…

" _What's wrong?"_ Kyle asked, seeing Isaac looked the opposite way, as if trying to listen. But he knew that that wasn't it.

" _Something just doesn't.. sound right. Not like it usually does."_

" _How so?"_

" _Those two Demon fuck-sticks.. the Bitch and Stone-Face.. usually they're here with them. But.. I don't hear them."_

Kyle cocked his head slightly, but leaned around the tree a bit, listening closely. There was a noticeable.. absence.

" _Does it matter? Maybe they're hanging back. Just.. shh…"_ Kyle pressed, pulling back behind the tree, and gestured for Isaac to do the same.

Isaac pulled back, listening carefully for the mass of Wolkeins approaching, all the while side glancing at Matthew as he continued to twitch and tense up against the tree.

* * *

Natalie's Howler crystal suddenly started to glow white, and growl faintly. This caught the teen's attention, as well as Tanya's beside her. The two exchanged looks with one another, before she tapped her Howler and said, _"Natalie here."_

" _Nat, is Kyle. We've got a situation here; Wolkeins must've found us somehow."_

" _Wolkeins?"_ She asked, glancing back at Tanya. _"Shit, need help?"_

" _Nah, stay where you guys are. Don't want the police following you.. last thing we need is the Canadians up in arms against us. They can be right fuckers when you piss them off…"_

Natalie rolled her eyes faintly. Trust Kyle to try and defuse a potentially dangerous situation like this. _"Fine. But if shit hits the fan, we'll come help."_

" _Alright. Anything on them yet?"_

" _We're picking them up on the scans, but they're not getting any closer to your place. What about Matt? He doing OK?"_ Natalie questioned.

" _Bit of a sweat on, couple of cuts that came out of nowhere, but at least his mouth is shut,"_ Kyle's voice responded over the comms.

Natalie smirked, and heard Tanya try, but ultimately fail, to hold back a chuckle. She then said, _"Well, keep us up to date."_

" _Will do,"_ Kyle said, before the comms were cut off.

Natalie lowered her arm back down onto the branch, before she looked to Tanya. _"So, how long before we go and help them?"_

Tanya mock-looked at her wrist, as if looking at a watch, and replied, _"About five minutes. They'll ask for it eventually."_

" _Who said we have to wait?"_ Natalie said, bringing her feet up and stood up on the branch, before taking a nonchalant step off of the branch. Tanya leaned forward as Natalie fell through the air, but landed perfectly on the ground, in what she had once heard Kyle call 'the Stereotypical Superhero Landing'.

Rolling her eyes at the memory, Tanya pulled herself to her feet on the branch, easily maintaining her balance and jumped off the tree. The snow was sent flying as she landed, a combined effort of her fist, knee and foot slammed into the ground, but the suit seemed to absorb most of the impact force, leaving Tanya injury-free upon landing.

Getting up fully, Tanya glanced aside at Natalie, and said, _"Shall we?"_

" _Yep,"_ Natalie confirmed, before together, the two teens ran across the snow from where they had come from. Vanishing into blurs of yellow and white, with black sections visibly cutting into their blurs.

All that remained was the areas of snow displaced from their landing, and the initial footsteps they had taken before becoming blurs.

* * *

The crimson-furred wolf was sent flying across ground, quickly righting itself on its paws, its claws digging into the surface. It snarled, eyes burning in rage, as it saw the larger blue furred wolf pinning its navy-furred brother. The yelps of its brother reached its ears, and it rushed forward.

Its body slammed against the larger wolf, sending it staggering off of its brother. The crimson-furred wolf quickly assisted the other wolf, the two now standing on their feet once again, facing the larger, blue-furred light wolf.

" **Feel like submitting yet, fuckers?"** The taunting, echoing voice of Matthew came from the larger wolf's muzzle, a vicious smirk plastered across its jaw. Behind it, and with small trails of blue light stemming from him, Matthew stood, his arms still outstretched. A bright blue light glowing around his Howler, with the same glowing blue light was encasing his eyes. The same smirk plastered across the Wolf's face had danced its way across his.

Or was it the other way around?

The two wolves before the larger one snarled, before glancing at one another, and the larger wolf adjusted its stance, preparing for the attack that he had seen before.

Moments later, the two wolves merged with one another, forming a mixed circle of crimson and navy electricity, sparks flying around it before a single, large arc of lightning flew from the center of the orb, right where the two-colored lightning met.

It struck the large wolf, the electricity arching around its body. It snarled and growled, arching its back, as the teenager behind it did the same. Their teeth grip, muscles tensing, but eyes remained opened. Focusing on the point where the lightning was coming from.

Despite the electricity arcing around its body, the wolf took a slow step forward, the lightning trying to force it to back down, but the blue 'furred' wolf fought against the force of the lightning, gradually getting closer and closer to the swirling ball of energy.

" **You... Are… Mine…"**

The wolf's voice seemed to waver slightly from the energy jolting across its body, more of Matthew's voice coming through, instead of it coming out altered. More energy tried to pass through the wolf, in more attempts to stop it, but it continued to press forward, drawing closer and closer to the energy.

Within a full minute, the wolf leaped forward, large arcs of energy rocking its body by this stage - so much so that it was passing along the traces connecting the wolf with Matthew, whose arms were started to become encircled by electrical arcs.

It collided with the energy orb, sending an electrical shock-wave outward that would've knocked Matthew aside if he hadn't been in the state he was in. Once the shock-wave had died down, the two smaller wolves were pinned beneath either one of the larger blue Wolf's front paws, its claws digging into the chests.

" **Now.. care to submit…?"**

The crimson-furred wolf snarled, despite the heavy weight pressing down on its chest, its ears flat against its skull and teeth bare.

" **Very well.. the hard way is often more fun…"** The larger Wolf growled, before the large front paws moved upward, beginning to add pressure to the throats of the two wolves.

The pair yelped and tried to remove themselves from under the larger Wolf's paws, but the claws dug into the throats and began pressing down further. They lashed out desperately, but their movements started to become slower and sluggish.

" **Well?"**

* * *

Natalie came to a grinding halt, and quickly ducked to avoid a Wolkein flying over her. It landed way behind her, gathering up snow in the process. She turned back from following it, and found Isaac and Kyle had already began fighting the large groups of Wolkeins.

She looked across at Tanya, and saw she had just started fighting a Wolkein, slamming it against a tree and repeatedly punching its head against the solid wood. _"Oi!"_ a sharp tone came from before her, and Natalie quickly ducked to avoid a flying punch from a Wolkein, returning it with an uppercut of her own.

" _I thought I told you to hold back!"_ Kyle exclaimed, kicking one Wolkeins' knee out, forcing it to drop to one knee, before delivering a sucker-punch to its head, sending it forcefully to the ground, it's body limp.

" _We can talk about this later. Right now, let's just take these fuckers out,"_ Natalie shot back, moving closer to fight alongside the guys, Tanya helped enclose the half circle, surrounding the still unconscious Matthew. Tanya glanced behind them at said teen.

" _Shit,"_ Was all she said.

" _I know,"_ Isaac replied, before he returned his gaze to around them. A great number of Wolkeins surrounded them, unfazed by the large depth of snow they had to step through to approach them. _"We just need to keep them away_ _from Matt until he gets up. If they get him, the 'Zords are fucked."_

" _Basically, we've got a Sokovia Church Scene situation right here,"_ Kyle added.

" _I swear, one more reference…"_ Isaac snapped, glaring briefly at Kyle, before backing off and facing the Wolkeins once more, seeing them drawing closer.

Kyle merely nodded, the knuckle-duster braces locking into the 'back' position, raising his fists up defensively. Tanya drew her curved blade, holding it by the two grips cut within the blade, as Natalie drew the two daggers. Twirling them within her fingers, she gripped them tightly, eyes darting between several Wolkeins.

Isaac drew his sword, running his other hand down the back of the blade briefly, before he brought it down and said, _"Well.. what are we waiting for?"_

As if a cue, the Wolkeins finally decided they had waited long enough, one of the closest to them raised its dagger, a raspy cry coming from somewhere on its person. With the others behind it, they all rushed at the Warriors.

The four teens stood their ground, and began deflected attack after attack, sending some of the Wolkeins flying into trees and into large snow drifts.

Kyle's knuckle-dusters collided with the Wolkeins' chest, sending them flying backwards through the air and into trees, some remaining in place, impaled on branch stubs - some even penetrating through both sides of the body.

Tanya's curved blade sliced cleanly through the chests of the Wolkeins' that dare attempt facing her, kicking them back into the snow, the pure white slowly becoming tainted with a deep green.

Isaac and Natalie both sliced across, up and down the bodies of the rushing Wolkeins, impaling themselves on the Warriors' sharpened blades, sometimes more than one at a time in Isaac's case with them piling up with such force against the Warriors.

He threw the Wolkeins aside, striking several more to try and hold them back, briefly glancing behind him, seeing that Matthew was still out of it. Only his Howler's crystal was growing brighter and brighter. _"Hurry the fuck up, Matt,"_ He uttered under his breath, punching one Wolkein back, before slicing downward across its torso.

The force of the strike sent it flying back onto the ground, green 'blood' splattering everywhere, across the snow, the trees, even across Isaac's visor - adding to what had splattered there previously.

" _We can't hold them all forever…"_

* * *

" **Do…You... Submit?"** Matthew's-distorted voice came from the large Blue Wolf, pressing down further against the two smaller wolf's throats, large cuts visible in the chest 'fur'. No blood came from the cuts, but they were visibly deep.

The two pinned Wolves growled and snarled beneath the massive paws crushing their necks and chest. They had stopped trying to get out from under the firm paws, instead settling on small, threatening shows.

The larger Blue Wolf bore down on the navy-furred Wolf, flashing its fangs briefly before nipping harshly on its muzzle, a common display of dominance among Wolves. Or so Matt had seen on the Internet at some point…

The navy Wolf yelped, a number of small cuts across its muzzle, before its ears flicked back and its eyes cast aside, submitting to the larger Wolf.

The Wolf then turned its attention to the other smaller Wolf, the stubborn crimson Wolf still remained defiant, growling up a storm and bearing its teeth.

Removing its paw from crushing down on the Navy Wolf, under the pretense that it wouldn't dare try and attack its better, the Blue Wolf raised it and brought it down across the smaller Wolf's muzzle, slicing through the fur, creating four clean cuts across the muzzle and face.

A yelp cut through the silence of the air, as the Crimson Wolf wriggled after the attack, one of its eyes forced close from one of the cuts slicing over the eye. Its remaining eye was met with a mouthful of fangs and growls, along with the rancid breathing of the larger Wolf.

" **I start with one eye.. doesn't mean I stop with them. You have four legs - you don't need all of them,"** It growled, its eyes boring into the smaller wolf's. For what seemed like an age, the Crimson Wolf remained defiant, growling back with bared teeth.

" **I will ask again…do you 'submit'?"**

* * *

The Wolkeins kept coming and coming, trying to break through the barrier created by the four Warriors, doing their best to block the hoard of foot soldiers. They deflected sword strikes, and kicked back limbs and torsos. Bodies lay in the snow, while some were enclosed in black-and-green smoke and sunk through the earth.

But there was just so many of them…

Kyle was caught by a flying fist from one side after blocking an attack from the other, and fell back from the force, the successful attack gave the Wolkein a chance to strike the downed Warrior. But Isaac quickly moved in, blocking the dagger with his sword and shoulder-barged it back.

He offered his free hand to Kyle, who quickly grabbed a hold of it and pulled himself to his feet, saying, _"I'm good."_

" _Let's just try not to let that happen again,"_ Isaac replied, swiftly turning to block the latest attack, kicking the Wolkein backwards, to which Natalie dug her daggers through the back and threw it to one side. It's body lay on the ground, lifeless.

Kyle simply nodded in agreement, blocking one more attack before throwing a punch of his own, the force of which sending it flying back into a tree, which then led to it falling into the pile of snow.

Tanya sliced across one of the Wolkeins, kicking it back and turned around to face the next one, but something caught her eye. Something.. off white. She quickly turned around, and her eyes widened when she saw what had happened.

One of the Wolkeins must have had more sense that the rest of them, because it had moved around the rest of them rushing in and getting sliced open, moving itself behind the trees they were trying to defend. It seemed very interested in the unconscious Matthew, its head cocking to either side every few seconds, slowly drawing its dagger from behind itself.

She swiftly broke rank, bringing the curved blade down across the back of its neck, slicing clean through, green blood oozing from the cut. It took a few seconds for the head to slowly slide off, its arms falling limp and the dagger itself fell into the snow.

With its headless body falling to the ground, the head rolling across the snow briefly before she turned around to return to help the others. But she was met with the others backing up, trying to close the gap Tanya had left before the Wolkeins could try and get through.

She quickly moved around to get on Natalie's other side, deflecting a few attacks off from Natalie. The attacks were coming in thick and fast, and Tanya knew the others were starting to struggle. If she was growing tired, she was positive the others were as well.

" _Guys, get down!"_

" _What?"_ Tanya shouted after Kyle exclaimed, but Natalie seemed to know what was going on, she grabbed her shoulder and pulled her down with her. Though she landed awkwardly, she fell to her knees and, through Natalie's hand on her back, she bent forward.

She couldn't see what was going on, but her hearing was soon obscured by the crackle of lightning shattering the silence of the forest, feeling the heat of something rush through the air over her. Though she wasn't sure if she was feeling the source itself or the air growing hot from whatever caused the heat.

The lightning crackling worked its way into her head, obscuring all other noises. She looked up, only able to see the feet of the Wolkeins. Though that all changed when she saw a bright flash of crimson and navy rush over all of the Wolkeins' bodies, rushing down their legs and into the ground, moving onto the next Wolkein, either by ground or by direct transfer.

Their bodies seemed to tense and jitter, a number of daggers falling into the snow, as their bodies started to fall loose, and fall to the ground. Bodies crumbling, before the sound of lightning fell silent and all of the bodies dropped.

Slowly raising her head, she looked across at the other four and asked, _"What the hell was that?"_

"That…"

Her head picked up and she looked behind. A faint _hiss_ came from the helmet locking into place, and Matthew looking up. _"Was me saving your asses."_

" _That was you?"_ Tanya asked, looking between the others. Kyle was the first to get to feet, quickly followed by Isaac as they turned around.

Matthew nodded, slowly using the tree as support as he got up. _"Did you get them back?"_ Isaac asked, slowly stepping towards him.

The blue-clad Warrior nodded slowly, bringing one of his hands out in front of him and opened it up. Rolling in his palm briefly, a transparent crimson, perfectly circular crystal sat. And in the middle of the crystal, they could all see a small ornament set in it, vaguely resembling a wolf.

" _And the other?"_ Natalie asked.

" _Yeah, got 'em both,"_ Matthew gruffly responded, producing his other open palm and showing the other crystal, a transparent, deep navy circular crystal. Like the crimson crystal, a small wolf ornament sat in the center.

" _Good shit man,"_ Isaac said, clasping his hand over Matt's shoulder, smirking under his helmet.

" _Yep,"_ Was the response, before he passed the crimson crystal over to the other palm, so both crystals sat in one palm, and he went to pocket them.

But at that very moment, the ground seemed to shake beneath them. Matthew, already been a bit unsteady as it was, leaned back into the tree to prevent himself falling.

" _Shit, it's that Fear Fucker,"_ Kyle exclaimed, pointing to the sky. The others followed, and saw a portal tearing through the sky, all clouds forced away to make room. A column of black came firing down from the portal, striking the ground.

Sure enough, the sky started growing darker and darker, like night was drawing it. This wouldn't have fazed most people, considering the location, but the giant creature growing from the base of the column, _might_ have some people concerned.

" _Savage, send the Zords. Fear's decided to come here,"_ Isaac said into his Howler.

" _Have you secured the other Zords?"_ Savage's voice asked.

" _Got 'em,"_ Matthew called.

The comms were cut off, but Isaac could hear tapping keyboards in the background. They turned their attention back to the Demon, who was slowly drawing closer to their location, like he knew where they were.

Distant howls could be heard, causing both the Warriors and Fear to turn to the source; rushing along the ground, small buildings and cars to get crushed and burst into flames respectively, were the Wolf Zords. All five rushed across the ground, covering it like the distance was nothing.

Fear stopped in his tracks, his sword dragging across the ground to create a large groove in the earth. The Zords flanked around, standing between their Warriors' position and Fear.

" _Let's try not to get our ass handed to us this time,"_ Kyle commented dryly, jumping into his Zord before Isaac to respond.

Said Warrior went to grab Kyle, but his hand grabbed thin air, he grunted in annoyance, which elected a chuckle from Tanya. She rolled her eyes before jumping into her Zord. The others quickly followed suite, firmly landing in their respective Zords and begun the Megazord formation sequence.

Not 30 seconds later, the combined Megazord stood before Fear, its Wolf Tail Blade drawn and in hand, as it faced the Demon. A faint sneer formed across the stone-colored face of the Demon, pulling his sword up to both hands and said, "Perhaps now.. you'll be a more worthy use of my time…"

" _Shut the fuck up,"_ Isaac responded, the five of them bringing the sword up to both hands and moved forward.

The two titans collided, swords striking one another with strike after slash. Sparks flying with each strike of sword against sword, deflecting and attacking. Fear was the first to break the chain, releasing one hand from the handle, and throwing a punch to the left shoulder of the Megazord.

The force sent the Megazord stumbling back few steps, the teens getting rocked about in the cockpit, quickly righting themselves and getting into a defensive stance. But not before Fear advanced, jabbing his sword forward, the teens barely blocking the attack this time around.

Alternating between striking with his sword and delivering blows with his fists, Fear grabbed onto one of the Megazord's shoulders and threw it aside, sending the whole Megazord to the ground, the earth shaking beneath them. A few of the buildings in the nearby town that were still standing getting knocked down by the earthquake-like shaking.

The teens groaned in the cockpit, the five working in unison to get the Megazord onto its hands and knees, then back to its feet. _"This guys really starting to piss me off,"_ Matthew grunted, shaking his head to clear it, resulting in the Megazord's head shaking slightly.

" _Then lets end this quickly,"_ Isaac said, leading the charge of holding the sword pointing forward, the others following suite as they began to move forward at speed.

Fear bore his teeth threateningly as the Megazord got back to its feet and rushed at him, bringing his sword in front of him to block the incoming attack. The swords connected, and Fear forced their sword to go flying to the side.

But he didn't expect the incoming punch, delivering a solid collision with the side of his face. He was sent stumbling backwards, several of the spines across his right cheek shattering off and landing on the ground. His sword fell as well, as he fell to one knee to recover.

" _That shut that fucker up,"_ Kyle said, rolling his shoulders as they backed up. But the others didn't response, and Kyle followed the gaze the others had with the Megazord.

Fear slowly raised his head to look at the Megazord, a dark look crossing his face - darker than usual. The Megazord took a small step back from the teens' response, as Fear slowly rose to his feet and wiped his jaw with the back of his forearm.

At his full height, Fear stood still for a few seconds before running forward, the earth shaking beneath his steps as he quickly closed the gap between himself and the Megazord. The teens raised the fists to defend themselves and the Megazord, but before Fear reached them, he just…

Vanished. A flash of black light exploded around him, with the sound that the teens thought it was an electrical base drop, and he was gone.

" _W.. Where'd he go?"_ Matthew asked, looking around; the Megazord turning with his movements, looking all around them, but all the scans picked up was the numerous police across the ground, and the several fires that had broken out across the town.

The teens kept their wits about them, tensed up, but they suddenly heard the same electrical drop from behind them and turned. And were met with a powerful punch to the head of the Megazord, the force of which sent the Megazord flying onto the ground.

The teens were rocked about violently in the cockpit, Kyle striking his head against the podium before him, as they came to a stop, kicking up more earth and concrete. Several groans and grunts of pain came from the teens and, led by Isaac, tried pushing themselves up to their feet. _"Kyle, you good?"_ Tanya asked, seeing her friend swaying slightly.

He nodded slowly, shaking his head briefly before looking around. _"W.. Whe.. Where'd he…?"_

He got his answer through another pair of electronic drops, and a sudden punch to the back of the head of the Megazord; the force of which returned the Megazord to the ground, face first. The force sent the teens rocking around the cockpit, Matthew actually getting dislodged from his position and cables, getting thrown across the cockpit and into the side.

Landing on the ground of the cockpit, Matthew groaned and rolled over onto his back, trying to recover as the others, despite their injures and stars before their eyes, forced the Megazord to its feet again to try and defend themselves. _"Matt, you OK?"_ Kyle called.

" _I'm good…"_ Matthew groaned, rolling back onto his front and pushing up to his hands and knees, before he heard another electronic drop. _"Guys, look out!"_

But another drop sounded, and the other four started exclaiming and shouting in pain - judging by the level of it, it was severe. Matthew quickly scrambled to his feet, his steps unsteady from the Megazord rocking, and tried to get back into position. But the moment he did, a massive burning sensation seemed to bolt itself into his right shoulder.

Exclaiming in pain with a shout, his other arm flew to the shoulder and held it firmly, forced to one knee, like the others, and several scans suddenly popped up on his visor to reveal what had done.

Fear had appeared behind them, sword in hand, and currently stabbed into the point where the Blue Beta arm connected to the Red Alpha torso of the Megazord. Only now, where the right arm should be, there was just a few chunks of metal jutted out, along with Fear's sword wedged through some metal plates and wires.

The entire right arm, hand and all, lay on the ground, sparks flying form the shoulder joint and torn metal plating laying around the arm. The lifeless palm fell flat against the ground, its fingers unmoving. All that was present, more than anything else, was the series of pained howls coming from the titans, a pair of them sounding more pain-filled and angered that the others.

"I was never one for a fair fight…" Fear's voice echoed around the Megazord's cockpit, before the five teens felt as though the sword was being removed from their very arms, and a kick to the back of the Megazord sent them falling forward. More chunks of metal fell from the forcefully disconnected joint, and the Megazord fell still.

" _Fuck…"_ Isaac groaned, his hand slowly unclasping his shoulder as he tried to assess the situation; but found he struggled to move his right arm, so settled on using his left to go through the various scans. _"We.. We've lost the right arm entirely.. several large areas of damage across the whole fucking thing."_

" _Not shit Einstein…"_ Matthew grunted, clenching his fist and trying to push them up to get the Megazord back up, but didn't have as much success as before. _"Couldn't tell."_

" _What are we going to do? We can't fight him.. one-handed…"_ Tanya commented, trying to lift up like Matthew, but exactly like him, she failed to do so.

Outside the Megazord, as it was struggling to stay on its knees and single hand digging into the ground, Fear prowled around it, bringing his sword up to rest on his shoulder as he eyed up the wounded Megazord. "There's something you should know, Warriors…" He said, eventually coming to stop before the metal head of the Megazord, and slowly knelt down to one knee before it. Bringing the sword down again, the tip came up to rest on the Megazord's chin, slowly raising it up again to get it to look at him.

"…You are never going to win. I will destroy you, before my 'Master' has that privilege."

The sword flicking to the side, resulting in more chunks of metal falling to the ground, as he rose to his feet once more and raised his sword up with both hands. Turning the blade around so it was facing downward, he brought it up higher to bring down through the Megazord's torso.

And that would've been the end of the Megazord…

If there hadn't been an intervention.

Just as he was to bring the sword down, jolts of crimson and navy lightning shot into his back, causing him to shout in pain as he was thrown to the side, his sword flying through the air and coming to rest beside the Megazord, digging into the ground beside the Megazord's remaining hand. Getting back to his feet quickly, Fear turned, a growl ripping through his face as he turned to face the source.

Coming to a stop, the two Lightning Zords glared down the giant Demon, each seemingly bristling with their respective colored lightning, like they were about to shoot more sparks at any second.

" _Th.. The Lightning Zords…"_ Matthew exclaimed, eventually turning the Megazord around on its knees to look across at where the blasts had come from. Upon seeing the two Zords standing before Fear, Matthew quickly reached behind him to reclaim the crystals he had stored.

Sure enough, he opened his palm again and saw the two crystals, only this time, the pair were glowing their respective colors. He looked between the two Zords in the distance, and back to the crystals. Closing his fingers around them, he slowly pushed himself to his feet, using his podium as support, and leaned into it.

The others watching him, Matthew placed the navy crystal to the left side, while the crimson one was placed on the right. Each was locked into place, and pulsed briefly. _"Alright, fuckers, let's see if you've remembered your lesson,"_ He grunted, gripping his podium tightly.

Both pairs of eyes pulsed on the Lightning Zords, and they looked at one another, briefly dipping their heads, and rushing either side of Fear. The Demon brought himself to a defensive stance, but suddenly felt something grabbed his ankle. Looking down, the Megazord had grabbed a hold of his ankle and pulled sharply.

The force sent Fear crashing into the ground, allowing the Megazord to finally gather the energy to force itself to stand. With Matthew leading, the others followed suite and managed to help the Megazord up. Despite its lack of a right arm, they managed to get it up.

" _Get ready guys,"_ Matthew warned, as the two Lightning Zords rushed either side and drew closer to the Megazord. The eyes of the Megazord flashed a brief yellow, just as the Lightning Wolves were within striking distance.

 **-Megazord Sequence-**

The head and remaining arm disconnected from the main Megazord, the eyes flashing yellow briefly before disconnecting. The torn and broken shoulder joint had several shards of panels and internal metal removed, leaving it clean like the opposite connecting point.

The Crimson and Navy Wolves moved to either side of the Megazord; Crimson to the left and Navy to the right. Both of their back legs folded into slots in their flanks, and their upper bodies wriggled forward, giving them an elbow point for the Megazord. The front arms folded into the chest, as its head locked into place, level with their backs. Ears folded back, flush with the head.

Both of the Zords identical, but mirrored, connected to the shoulder ports of the Megazord's torso, a faint _hiss_ and steam pouring out when they connected. The muzzle parts of the Lightning Zords disconnected, spinning around each other above the Megazord's head. Fusing together to form an open face helmet, and came down on its head. Locking into place, the built-in faceguard fused with the helmet, keeping the metal face partially covered.

The normally yellow eyes flashed a brief crimson and navy, each in the respective side of the Zords.

 **-Megazord Sequence Ends-**

Fear looked across at the new Megazord that stood before him, trying to stare him down. But he let out a dry laugh as he brought his sword back up to his shoulder. "It doesn't matter what you use or what you look like. I'll still cut you down to size."

" _Let's put this fucker in this place,"_ Matthew said, the others looking to him, Isaac included, and followed his lead as they began walking the Megazord towards Fear. The wrists of the Megazord, which were actually the necks of the two Lightning Zords, twisted slightly back and forth, the Warriors testing out these new weapons at their disposal.

As they drew closer, small jolts of lightning began to focus around the Lightning Wolf's heads, both in their respective colors.

Matthew looked down at one of his hands, and clenched his fist tightly, not sure if he was seeing this, but he was sure the fist was getting covered in vague electrical shards. He quickly looked back up, and saw they were closing in. _"Get ready,"_ Matthew called to the others.

" _You're taking this one, Matt,"_ Isaac said, getting a few looks from the others for a few seconds. Matthew included, before returning their attention to the task at hand.

" _Thanks.. I guess,"_ Was the response from the teen, before raising both his fists. The others followed suite, resulting in the Megazord copying their movements, raising its electricity-charged fists as they reached Fear.

The two titans collided, the Megazord throwing the first punch, Fear crossed his arms, blocking the attack, but electric shards transferred through the armor, shocking around the Demon's forearms. The Megazord pulled back, throwing the Crimson head at Fear.

The hit connected with Fear's chest, letting a dull, echoing _thud_ sound out around the area, a faint dent forming in the armor and electrical shards transferring. Fear grunted at the hit, stepping back briefly to recover, but the Megazord pressed its advances.

Punch after punch was thrown, Fear attempting to step back and avoid the punches, but the Megazord was moving faster.

In the cockpit, the teens all moved as one, the cables tensing up and assisting them, keeping their movements in sync. The occasional grunt and exclaim came from the teens, as they focused on Fear. The visor of the Megazord was focused on Fear, giving the Warriors holographic guide their punches.

Grabbing a hold of the battered Fear's shoulders, Matthew grit his teeth and drove his knee up. The others followed seamlessly. The Megazord followed slowly, driving the knee upward. Fear's face collided with its knee, shards of metal and his facial spines shattering and falling to the ground.

Fear reeled back, stumbling from the sensation passing through him, trying to get himself together. "I.. will _not_ be beaten by you petty humans!" He snarled, shaking his head and shifted into a fighting stance.

" _What else can these things do?"_ Kyle asked, turning his wrists around slowly.

Matt turned to look at Kyle, before looking down at the two crystals that sat on his podium. _"Guys, hold this defense,"_ He said, pulling himself free of the locks and reached for the crystals, the others keeping the stance, and walked the Megazord towards Fear.

He tapped the crystals briefly, and locked himself back into the stance, feeling a surge pass through his arms. At his gesture, the others stopped walking and the Megazord grinded to a halt. Matt flexed his fingers briefly, before clenching his fists and slowly rose his forearms up.

The others followed, with the Megazord copying their movements, the forearms raising slowly, and coming to a stop once they were facing Fear. Several large _hisses_ sounded across the Megazord, and sections expanded, locking sections into place.

The heads of the Lightning Wolf Zords split down the middle, and moved backwards and apart a short distance. This revealed a short, stumpy cannon end.

" _I fucking like this,"_ Matthew said under his breath, a holographic representation of what was happening on both fists. The others looked to him and, after getting a slight nod from Isaac, Matthew looked back to Fear.

" _Let's see how you like this, you Demon Bastard."_ He clenched his fists again, and called out, _"Double-Barrel Lightning Strike!"_

" _Patent pending,"_ Kyle whispered.

" _Charging up,"_ Tanya reported, two bar chart-like programs showing up on her HUD, and both reached the maximum level at the exact same time.

On the outside, the dark interior of the cannon ends slowly started to glow the respective colors of the two Zords, electricity sparking between the split Zord heads to the ball of energy.

Fear noticed the building energy around the great metal being, and took a step back. He clenched his fists slowly, and brought them out to cross his front, confident he could block whatever these Warrior-wannabes could throw at him.

" _Ready?"_ Matt asked.

" _Ready,"_ Tanya confirmed.

" _Fire!"_

A slowly building energy echo came from the two cannon tips. and moments later, two solid beams of energy came firing forward, sparks flying all around the columns, electrifying the air as it barreled towards Fear.

The columns connected with Fear's crossed forearms, the Demon digging his feet into the ground, kicking up large masses of dirt as the energy blasts pushed against him. Small chunks of his armor broke off due to heat, and despite his best efforts to hold against it, Fear _knew_ this wasn't going to hold long.

Gritting his teeth tightly, to the point where he was sure they were going to break, he snapped his fingers sharply. The familiar sound of the electric base drop echoed around the area, and the cannon blasts suddenly didn't have a target.

They continued straight ahead, cutting through the air like a knife through water. The cannons fired for a few seconds longer, before suddenly ending. The barrels were glowing white hot, and smoldering slightly.

The teens slowly lowered their hands to their sides, the Megazord copying their movements, the split heads of the Wolf Zords slowly folding back into place.

" _You think we got him?"_ Natalie asked.

" _I don't think we've seen the last of him…"_ Isaac replied gravely.

 **~Epilogue~**

"So, what've we got here?" E asked, raising the police tap across the entrance to the hospital, holding it up for the other two people to come in after him.

One of them, a female police officer, said, "Six of your men, now casualties. Two survivors and eye witnesses, both your people."

"Where are they?" The other person, another agent asked. He wore a white shirt and black tie, with a grey suit jacket over top. His polished shoes reflected the lights of the hospital's ceiling.

"Officer Philips will take you to them," The officer replied, gesturing to a male officer standing beside of one of the doors. The named officer stepped forward.

"You got this?" The agent asked, briefly glancing back to E.

"When haven't I?" E responded, before adding, "I'll be fine, A."

The agent known as 'A' briefly nodded, before looking to Philips and gestured for him to lead the way. A left with Philips through a set of double doors, before E looked to the female officer.

"Let's go."

The officer continued down the corridor, E beside her, as they walked through the corridor. All throughout their walk, all they could hear was the constant chatter of police radios and various pairs of Division 13 soldiers walking back and forth.

When they eventually got one section of the hospital, which had yet more police tape restricting areas off, specifically around the massive hole in both the wall and floor. Rubble lay everywhere, and large pools of blood were visible on the other side of the hole.

"Shit," Was all E said. He pulled his hands from his trouser pockets, which they had found themselves in during the walk, and crouched down, getting a closer look at the damage, and into the dark of the lower floor.

He looked over the entire hole briefly, before looking up and down the corridor, muttering to himself, "Cameras.. pair of 'em… No one's been down there since this happened, have they?" E asked, getting back to his feet and looking to the officer.

"No, we've had this area cornered off from all but essential personal," The officer replied, her arms folded across her chest.

"Good.. good," E said, nodding slowly. Reaching into his jacket, he pulled a small flashlight and flicked it on, shining it into the hole, before proceeding to step under the police tape and on the other side.

"What are you doing?" The officer asked sharply, unfolding her arms and stepping forward slightly. E turned back to look at the officer.

"Investigating," He responded plainly.

"By yourself?" She asked.

"I prefer doing it that way," E replied, before he slowly leaned closer over the hole and shone his light into the lower levels, turning it around slowly, trying to get as good a view as he could.

With all the area he shone the light, the majority of what he saw was just the rubble that had formed from whatever had created this hole, and what he assumed was the hole in the side of the building.

"Do we know what's supposed to be down here?" He asked, a faint echo forming from the hole. He was practically hanging from at this stage.

"From what we've been told, it's just storage. Spare computers and stuff like that," She replied, moving around the taped off area to get a better look at what the agent was looking at.

"Well, there's been a lot more than just storage down here…" E muttered under his breath, slowly moving his torch to shine down one side of the corridor that lay beneath.

The officer moved around again, getting a look down the corridor end the torch was shining down, her eyes widening and she stepped back a little. With the torch shining on them, several pairs of footsteps could be seen, bright green in colour, and looked like they were made of a strange substance.

Putting the torch against his mouth, holding onto it firmly, E shifted his legs over the edge of the hole and shifted off of the edge, resulting in a short fall and a solid landing on the ground. Standing up fully again, E carefully moved around the multiple trails of footsteps, checking where he was stepping for ones he might have missed.

"Ten pairs.. maybe eleven…" E muttered to himself, shining his torch all around, his lips moving soundlessly as he spoke to himself. "Whatever they are, they need to be found…"

* * *

 **And here we have the latest chapter to the Wolf Pack saga. Hope you guys enjoy this; please remember to R &R :)**

 **As always, chapter was Beta'd by** **Charlotte 'Charlie' Hartley, and I am forever grateful to them for helping me.**

 **-Nf991 signing out, 'til next time.**


	12. Episode 11 - Deceived by Appearance

Episode 11 – The Ranger Suppression Act

' _Welcome to PXN, I'm Oliva Myers. The time is currently 11:12. Our main story for today - an act has been proposed in Washington, to restrict and control the Wolf Pack Power Rangers of Pax Valley. President Harrison was seen in Congress proposing the act, the Ranger Suppression Act, which is an attempt to control and help in the controlling of the vigilantes. W-'_

"Can you honestly believe this shit?" Tanya asked, turning the TV off before she could hear the report anymore. The controller went flying across the room, and threatened to break in half from how hard it had smashed into the wall.

Isaac was really glad it didn't break; last thing he needed was to buy another controller.

"Yes, it's fucked up. But please don't break my stuff," Isaac said with a sliver of sarcasm in his tone, though he quickly looked away, whistling casually when Tanya glared at him.

She had come over to this place to try and relax after that long day a couple of days ago. Fighting two Demons in one day, only actually destroying one, and finding two new Zords.. it can take it out of you. It had started off fine, a bit of eating, a few jokes thrown back and forth.

But that all took a sour tone, when Isaac had been flicking through the television channels and it had stuck on the news, _just_ as there was a report on them. And like the idiot he was, Isaac had failed to get off of the channel as soon as he could.

And.. well, that resulted in a partially smashed controller and a pissed off Tanya.

"Look…I know jack-shit about the American Law system, but surely they need to have people in Washington to actually get behind this. Right? So.. try and chill until then, OK?" Isaac asked, though his tone sounded like he was lightly pleading.

Tanya glared at Isaac, before bringing her hands up to her face and rubbed slowly, sighing heavily as she sat down on the sofa beside Isaac. Subconsciously, she leaned to the side, her head coming to rest on Isaac's shoulder. His arm going around to gently rest on her shoulder, rubbing her arm tenderly.

"We need to stop this while we're ahead," Tanya sighed, bringing her hands down to her lap and closing her eyes.

"We can stop, but when they fuck up this world, who are they going to blame?" Isaac responded, glancing across at Tanya, a knowing look in his eye.

Tanya opened her eyes and looked up to him, before pulling back from Isaac's shoulder and sitting up properly. "They blame us when we do shit, then they'll blame us when we do fuck all."

"That's the government for ya," Isaac mused, leaning back to lie down on the sofa bed. He had barely woken up properly when the loud banging on the door had sounded in the early hours.

"And we can't do fuck all, because that's the last thing we need," Tanya added.

"Has Kyle got anything in the news since Canada?" Isaac asked, looking up to the ceiling.

"Not that I know of, other than the fact they were pissed because we destroyed a nature reserve," Tanya pointed out. Kyle hadn't said a word when he had shown the post on them, just a massive picture of scene of destruction in a forest with several police in the picture and what was essentially a massive rant about them.

"Yeah.. can't imagine they were too pleased with that," Isaac agreed.

Silence enveloped the two momentarily, before Tanya walked towards the door, muttering, "Gonna go to the bathroom…"

"K," Isaac called as she slipped through the door, pushing it back in hopes to close it, but only meeting the edge of the lock.

* * *

In a shadowy alley to the eastern side of Pax Valley, with cardboard boxes and trash bags littered across, a homeless man had his back propped against the side of a rubbish cart. His clothes were tatty and his appearance rough, a large grey beard along his jaw and cheeks. Low snores came from him, his eyes twitching slightly.

Save for his snoring, all was quiet in the alley.

Until…

The sound of a liquid-y _squelching_ growing steadily louder woke up him; his eyes quickly shot open and he jerked up. Years of being on these streets had taught him to wake up quickly at whatever sound he heard, some lessons were learnt the hard way. He looked around sharply, trying to find the source of the sound.

But there wasn't anybody in the alley. Just him, and the rats that came from their hiding places.

That was when he noticed something.. odd.

A number of footprints walked down the alley past him, but they were in some sort of strange goo, glowing a dim green. He slowly leaned over and pulled one of the gloves off his hand, dipping two finger tips in one of the boot prints.

"What the fuck…?" He muttered softly, turning his hand around and rubbing the strange slime between his fingers and thumb. It had a strange feel to it, but found it similar…

A strange, insectoid ticking sound came from above him, and suddenly something wet landed on the shoulder of his jacket. He looked over to the shoulder, and found it was the same slime-y liquid trickling down his torn jacket.

The ticking sound continuing, he slowly looked up. Whatever it was, it was standing on top of the trash bin.

Seconds later, his sudden, pained scream came from the alley, along with a venomous _hissing_ echoing off the walls. When they fell silent, seconds later, it was replaced with the sickening _crack_ and the sound of flesh getting torn apart.

* * *

" _Isaac."_

Isaac looked down to his Howler as it flashed and growled, mildly surprised that he didn't have to push the crystal in order to open comms. Regardless, he raised the Howler up and said, "Yeah MUTT?"

" _We have a disturbance reported towards the East of the city. Demonic traces."_

"Fine, we'll head there. Me and Tanya are already close, so just get the others there," Isaac said, picking himself up from the sofa bed and headed for the door.

" _I'll keep you up to date,"_ Was MUTT's last message before the comms went off, and Isaac walked through the door of the room.

In the hallway, he almost ran into Tanya as she went to approach the door. "Something up?" She asked, as he closed the door behind him.

"Demons in the East," He explained briefly, gesturing for her to follow as he quickly worked around the door frames, heading for the front door. The two quickly left his house, and rushed towards the East end of the city.

"We got any sort of idea where in the East?" Tanya asked as they ran along the streets, quickly moving around random civilians; dodging most, but the ones that accidently shouldered cast them glares and threw insults at the teenagers.

"I'm pretty sure we'll find it," Isaac replied, and before long, they heard series of sirens, as police cruisers rushed passed them on the street, sirens blaring. Isaac had looked to Tanya when the cruiser drove pass them, and the two shared silent words.

Trying to keep it subtle, the two listening in on where the sirens were blaring, and followed them. Eventually leading them in what they assumed was the right direction. "MUTT, we at the right place?" Isaac asked lowly, once they were around the corner of the sirens.

" _According to the tracker, you are. The others are in the process of getting to your location,"_ MUTT responded over the comms.

Isaac went to respond, but quickly lowered his arm and covered his wrist once again as a couple walked pass. He gestured for Tanya to look around the corner. She did so, getting a glimpse at the situation around the street.

"Cops are already there; I count at least three cruisers. They're swarming, trying to keep the noisy fuckers out," She replied, pulling herself back from looking around.

Isaac nodded slightly, saying, "We can't really go in from the front.. so, attack from the back?"

"Never knew you liked it from the back," Tanya teased with a smirk.

Isaac responded with a simple eye-roll, before gesturing for her to follow him. The two walking along the street, and eventually found another alley between a couple of shops. They slipped into the alley when they were sure no-one was watching them, and walked a short distance into it.

"Think this is far enough?" Tanya asked, glancing back.

"It's going to have to be," Isaac responded, before rolling his sleeve up again and activated the Howler. A brief flash of light encased him, before quickly fading and revealing he was armoured up in his Red Alpha form. He looked up, and quickly jump up to grab a hold of an emergency escape staircase.

Tanya shook her head briefly, chuckling under her breath, before she activated her Howler and was transformed into her Yellow Gamma armour. She followed Isaac, taking the exact same path he had taken up the emergency staircase.

If anyone were to have catch the flashes down the alley, and they were to backtrack and look down the alley, they wouldn't find anything. They would simply be too late.

Tanya threw herself up the last section of the staircase, landing smoothly on top of the building and looked around. Isaac had already started walking towards the alley that was blocked off, and quickly jogged to walk up alongside him.

" _So, you keep an eye out from the top and keep me up to date if shit goes down,"_ Isaac asked as they neared the top of the alley, coming to stop at the very edge, one foot coming up to rest on the thin edge.

" _What, afraid that I'll outshine you if I come down with you?"_ Tanya asked, one hand coming to rest on her hip.

Though she couldn't see it, Tanya was sure Isaac was rolling his eyes, and, judging by the slight shake of his head, she was correct. She chuckled as Isaac moved to leap down into the alley from the other side, without going in the way of the police.

Tanya moved down the top of the alley, slowly reaching the very corner edge and crouched down, looking around, and seeing the swarm of people trying to get a picture or video of what was going on behind the police tape. While the police themselves trying to keep them away, while others were closer to the alley's entrance.

She could hear and see things for what seemed like forever, but knew that if that was true, she would either go deaf or mad. But it was enough to give Isaac warning, should it come to that. She brought the Howler to her helmet, she asked, _"Everything good down there?"_

" _So far, yeah. See any shit hitting the fan?"_

" _Nope, nothing ye... Wait…"_ Tanya replied, lowering her Howler as she leaned forward slightly, gripping the edge of the building to prevent herself from falling.

The scans, in addition to the enhanced sight, picked up a particular vehicle moving through the traffic at speed, weaving in and out, overtaking at risky looking positions. The black SUV wouldn't catch many people's attention, but something sounded and smelled.. off.

" _What is it?"_ Isaac's voice came over again.

" _We've got some black SUV incoming. Might be wrong, but looks FBI-like."_

" _The Feds? Shit."_ The seriousness to Isaac's tone was rare for Tanya to hear.

" _Want help?"_ She asked, glancing between her Howler, down the side of the alley and down the street as the SUV drew closer. It seemed her gut instinct was right.

" _Not yet.. trying to find out what this fucker is.. keep them distracted if you have to."_

Tanya rolled her eyes slightly, huffing, _"Fine,"_ as she pulled her Howler down to rest across one of her knees.

" _Shit... Shit, shit, shit!"_

" _What? What is it?"_ Tanya asked, looking to her Howler briefly before looking down into the alley, the frantic tone of her friend giving her cause for alarm. She stood up to jump down, but the police and civilians down below caught her attention.

The way the police turned around to look in the alley, trying harder to keep the civilians away, and some even drawing their weapons. Whether it was because of Isaac, or whatever was in that alley to begin with, shit was going to hit.

" _Screw this,"_ She muttered under her breath, getting up and backing up a few steps. Turning her head from side to side slightly, Tanya exhaled before running forward, throwing herself off of the building and through the air. She quickly righted herself before she could fall uncontrollably, and aimed for a clear spot among the police.

The ground cracked beneath her upon landing, physical cracks forming in the concrete sidewalk, and quickly gained the attention of the police around her. She rose to her feet, looking around briefly, long enough to see several of the officers quickly pulling their pistols free and aiming them at her.

" _I haven't got time for your shit,"_ She quickly said, looking to the alley and quickly rushed in, not having time to visibly turn into the blur the five of them had made themselves known for.

But she was quickly set back.. and not willingly.

Her body was thrown back, only with a mix of red thrown in with the black and yellow of her uniform, and only came to a stop when she collided with the side of one of the cruisers. The force sent it jerking to the side on two wheels.

Thankfully, it landed right back on four wheels once the force had vanished. The police became more frantic in attempts to get the civilians out of the area. Only a couple of them were free to aim their pistols at the side of the now crippled cruiser.

" _Fuck, you weigh a ton,"_ Tanya grunted as she shoved Isaac off of her before getting to her feet. She looked around slowly at the number of officers, with either her or the other Ranger in their sights.

" _Shut it,"_ Isaac snapped as he quickly jumped to his feet. He briefly scanned the area, asking, _"These guys for real?"_ as he gestured to the officers with a thumb, before he turned back to the alley. He turned his head slightly to listen to something, before his eyes widened.

" _Duck!"_ He exclaimed, grabbing Tanya's wrist and dragged her down to the ground. The officers glanced between each other at this, before the sound of grinding metal caught their attention from the alley.

The crowd dispersed quickly when a flying trash container came from the alley, the officers quickly moving or ducking out of the path of the flying trash container. It collided with the already damaged cruiser, the pair of large metal objects getting sent across the street.

" _What the fuck was that?"_ Tanya asked once the container had flown overhead, lifting her head up to look back down the alley.

Isaac raised his head again, looking around briefly to see what the state was of the civilians and police was. After he saw no sight of blood, though that didn't say much, he looked back into the alley and replied, _"A Wolkein."_

" _A fucking Wolkein did that? I doubt that,"_ Tanya replied, pulling herself from Isaac's huddle, and moved towards the entrance to the alley. The buzzing of the civilians' chatter was ringing in her heads, no matter how much she tried to shake her head; but it also prevented her from hearing in the alley.

But luckily, or rather unluckily, the Wolkein slowly stepped out from the alley, gaining several gasps from the civilians. Like it was some type of pantomime, and the bad guy had just walked out.

The body was the same shade of dirty white-grey of Wolkeins, bar from the colour of the armour that wrapped around the forelegs, forearms and top half of the chest. But there were more colours across the chest, both armoured and unarmoured chest. A mixture of dark green and dark red were splattered across the chest, neck and shoulders of the being; the green was still wet, trickling down the chest and neck. The dark red looked relatively dry, beginning to crust on the body.

But the head... The head differed the most from what the pair had gotten used to.

Several sections of the head was torn, seemingly by the creature itself, revealing what lay underneath. A dark grey skull, almost blending in with the colour of the skin. But other sections that were torn, around the mouth area, and this was where the highest concentration of blood was splattered across. Several jagged teeth were visible, each coated in blood. The mouth itself looked as though it was cut through the flesh to form itself.

No eyes were sported on the face, only indents in where they should be. Yet it seemed to know where the two Warriors standing before it were, seeing as it was staring right at them, and made a low snarling sound.

" _That's.. fucking wrong,"_ Tanya bluntly commented.

The Wolkein rushed at Isaac and Tanya suddenly, letting out an ungodly growing-hiss, its arms flaying around wildly in attempts to strike the two Warriors, but the two split up and kept swerving and ducking to avoid the clawed strikes.

Given the option of either Warrior, the Wolkein turned on Isaac and threw all of its attacks at him, the Warrior making every attempt to avoid its claws. He saw droplets of the strange green slime fly off of the creature, splattering the ground.

Several shots were fired behind Isaac, most of them hitting the creature, though he felt a few shots land on his back. He glared behind him at the few officers, their bodies tensing up more when the Red Ranger turned to look at them.

He went to turn fully to look at the police, but a clawed hand grabbed his shoulder and threw him across the street. By this stage, the crowds had dispersed enough so that only a few desperate ones remained, trying to get a good picture or videos for YouTube.

Isaac collided into the side of one of the buildings, indenting the wall and throwing bricks in all directions. He groaned lowly, pressing his hands into the wall either side of him and pushed himself free, collapsing to the floor, bricks all around him.

" _Definitely no normal Wolkein,"_ Isaac uttered to himself, pushing up to his feet and glared up at the Wolkein-like creature, as it stumbled across the street towards him. He saw Tanya in the corner of his vision, her curved-blade drawn as she slowly approached the creature from the side.

" _Tanya, no. This fucker's mine. See what you can learn from MUTT about it,"_ Isaac said through the comms, drawing his own sword and bringing his Howler-mounted arm back down to grip the handle.

The creature titled its head slightly as Isaac took his stance before him, before it began hissing once more and rushed at Isaac. It struck its clawed hand at him, but he managed to block the attack and deliver a head-butt in return.

The creature stumbled back, its head shaking briefly, before it hissed venomously at Isaac and rushed at him, claws flying in all directions, all aimed at Isaac. The Warrior hoping he could keep up with the attacks, and deflect all of claws.

But some landed; the first one across one of his arms, slicing clean through the armour and scratching his flesh. Isaac grunted in pain, briefly covering the flesh wound and ducking to avoid further attacks. He quickly drove a knee into its gut, and forcefully kicked it back.

" _Fuck,"_ he muttered, looking to the sliced section of armour; the section was the dark red, making it hard for him to make it out, but he briefly touched it, and a rare feeling flared up in him. Pain.

He was quickly reminded on the situation, however, when a gargling screech caught his attention, and he quickly raised the sword to block the attack. The creature began pushing Isaac back across the street, throwing attacks rapidly at Isaac, the clawed hands striking the sword, sending sparks flying.

Isaac went to swing the sword at the creature, but it ducked at the last second; the only thing he cut was thin air. He tried to bring the sword down on the creature, but felt his legs get taken out from under him. He thought he was going to land on the ground, but a swift strike in the chest sent him flying backwards.

His back landing on cold metal, buckling under his weight, and his sword was sent flying on the ground, dropping from the car bonnet he had landed on. Dazed, he tried getting up off of it and went for his sword, but a dirty white foot slammed on his wrist, further denting the car bonnet.

Grunting, Isaac looked up to see the creature bending down over him, the sharp fangs bare, hissing lowly as it lowered its head down to his visor. Small traces of the green slime slipped off of its teeth, landing across his visor. The moment it did, Isaac smelt… burning.

The HUD across his visor sparked briefly, twitching as small dots in his visor started to melt. Whatever this creature was producing, it could damage the suit.

He threw a punch at the creature with his free hand, but it caught his wrist and slammed it against the car. Isaac tried jerking out from under the creature, but it held him in place.

The low hisses sounded again, and Isaac was faced with a jaw-full of teeth, more slime threatening to drop from its teeth onto his body. It screeched loudly, and jerked its head down.

But another cry came from the creature, and Isaac felt a sudden rush of liquid splash onto his torso. He looked down and saw a thick mix of blood and that thick slime splashed across his stomach and the car bonnet.

And the tip of a spear was gouging through the creature's torso, the sharpened end barely millimetres from stabbing into him. He looked up, and the creature's body was growing limp, a silver hand gripping the shoulder to keep it from falling on Isaac.

The spear was removed from the torso, spilling more slime and blood across his body, and its body was thrown off the car's front. Isaac looked back up, and saw Matthew standing over him, offering a hand.

" _Need help?"_ He asked.

" _I'd appreciate it if you would take it off of me before spearing it,"_ Isaac replied shortly, batting the hand aside and rolled off of the bonnet, though he did stumble a little, one hand clenching his torso, grunting under his breath.

" _What's wrong?"_

Isaac glanced up when he heard Natalie, as he saw her quickly approach him. Coming a stop, kneeling before Isaac, and took his hand. Pulling it away, and saw what lay beneath.

" _Shit, that's not good,"_ She commented. _"Matt, take him back to the Den and get MUTT to look at him."_

" _Got it,"_ Matthew replied, bending down to grab Isaac's upper arm, helping him to his feet. Isaac was quick to press his other hand against his stomach, the hand getting stained by the mix of red and green.

Moments later, he and Matthew were encased in bright light, and were gone from the street. All they left in their wake was the remains of the creature, a pair of utterly destroyed cars and a fucked-up road.

" _What do we do now?"_

Natalie looked back as Kyle and Tanya approached, both with their weapons draw. She went to respond, but fell silent when she heard a low, rapidly approaching siren. _"We hide - see what happens,"_ Natalie replied, gesturing to the top of the tall building opposite the street.

The three quickly ran, jumping up the side of the building and landing on the roof; leaving the street vacant of any Warriors, with just rubble, police and wrecked cars across the roads.

* * *

"Master…" Batibat said under a hushed whisper, dropping to one knee before the crystal-topped podium. The black crystal had glowing, red cracks running throughout it, the only thing appearing to keep it from breaking apart was the metal pendant-cage wrapped around it.

" _ **What is it, Batibat?"**_ The deep, echoing voice of her Master spoke. To her, he sounded more alive and ever before. As alive as a Demon could get, anyway.

"I have been watching the Humans for some time, and recently there has been some.. interesting developments."

"… _ **Explain."**_

"It seems that... Fear has been experimenting with Wolkeins."

There was a moment of silence, in which Batibat held her breath. She knew her Master had requested not to mention the traitorous Warlord, since his betrayal of the Master. While Batibat wasn't sure exactly what Fear had been doing, Batibat knew he wasn't doing it for the Master.

Something in her gut told her that.

" _ **Experimenting how?"**_ Came the eventual response. The voice cold and low, seeming to vibrate the very ground and walls of the domain. Batibat lowered her gaze briefly at the tone, taking a moment before speaking.

"I... I'm not sure, Master. I... I will go to investigate, if that is what the Master wants."

" _ **Yes…Investigate this matter. If this is something Fear is planning, I want to know. Go."**_

The final command was more like a growl than a simple voice. One that sent a great shiver down Batibat's spine. The Master was growing in power, but wasn't there yet. He needed more power.. more time.

"At once, Master," Batibat replied, casting her gaze downward as the dark red energy slowly dimmed. While they were still present, they didn't stand out as much as when they were glowing brightly.

She swiftly rose to her feet, brushing a bit of dirt off of her knee and briskly turned to walk away from the podium on which the pendant sat on. She needed to make some preparations before she could go into the Human Realm…

* * *

"Ah... Fuck, that stings," Isaac grunted through grit teeth, arching his head back to look at the ceiling, his hands clenching and unclenching into fists repeatedly. MUTT stood beside him, a small device in his hand, a light red beam reaching from the device to Isaac's torso. The wide beam going over the width of the acidic mixture burning through his armour.

" _This is a strange compound. If this creature is Wolkein-like is how you described, it would have taken a while before it would have been created,"_ MUTT informed, placing the scan down and picked up another, triangle-shaped device. He pressed a small red button and it slowly floated off of his hand, and moved over Isaac's still-armoured form.

As it lowered across his stomach and began cleaning up the combination of liquids, Matt looked back at Savage, as the two watched the procedure happen. "You see anything like this when the other guys were around?" He asked, his helmet resting under his arm.

"Not like this. This is new," Savage muttered softly, watching as the slime-and-blood combination was removed from Isaac's armour, several beeps coming from the device, as it combed through the liquids and prevented it from causing any more damage.

Once the last of the liquid was removed, MUTT summoned the device back to his hand and moved back over to the central podium, placing the device on a console piece and tapped a few keyboards.

" _Keep an eye on Isaac,"_ MUTT instructed, grabbing a small, pen-shaped device from a hole in the controls, and handing it over to Savage. The Wolf took the device and walked back over to Isaac, while Matthew moved along to stand beside MUTT, watching him do his thing.

Isaac groaned lowly, trying to push himself into a sitting up position, but Savage's hand grabbed his shoulder somewhat firmly, and pushed him back down onto his back. "You'll want to stay still for this," Savage warned as he aimed the pen to Isaac's torso.

A small beam of green light came from the pen, and spread out across the width of Isaac's stomach, his body jerking suddenly at the stinging, burning sensation. He bit down on his lip to keep from shouting out, his hands clenching into tight fists, and blood soon came from his lip.

"FUCK!" He eventually shouted out, all of his muscles tensing up and a blood vessel making itself known on the side of his forehead.

"Relax, you'll thank me in the long run," Savage said, as small columns of smoke came from points across both Isaac's skin and armour. From what skin was visible, that had been damaged from the strange mixture, slowly sizzled and Isaac felt the burning sensation continue. Isaac managed to pick his head up enough to hear the sizzling, but he saw what appeared to be his skin starting to grow back in places it had sunk in.

"We got anything on what's in the blood, MUTT?" Savage asked when the process was complete, turning the pen-shaped device off, and moving away. Now he wasn't being held down, Isaac slowly pulled himself to sit up, pressing a hand to his stomach briefly.

He found no blood on his hand when he pulled it back, and looked down; while ever so different in colour to his actual skin, it looked close enough.

" _This is.. odd,"_ MUTT said, tapping one of the many keyboards before him, looking at a smaller screen buried beneath the other screens.

"What is it?" Savage asked, placing the device across another keyboard and standing at MUTT's other side, copying Matthew.

" _The mixture of chemicals present, specifically in the blood, which are present uniquely in the human body."_

"You're saying that this thing is human?" Matthew asked, gesturing to the small screen, showing various charts and graphs.

" _At least part human. I will need to do deeper scans and analyses before I can come to a conclusion,"_ MUTT explained, turning to look at Savage. _"Thankfully, the acidic qualities of the liquid weren't enough to permanently cause damage to Isaac. And the synthetic skin has successful repairs the damage down."_

"This.. is fucking weird," Isaac said, prodding the fake skin that was, essentially, burnt into the rest of the skin. He pushed himself off of the table he had been placed on, and slowly walked over to the other three. Gathering his helmet, he carried it over to the others.

"So, until you get that sort of shit, what are we going to do?" Isaac asked, looking to Savage first, then to MUTT.

" _At the current moment, I'd suggest trying to avoid direct conflict with these creatures,"_ MUTT advised.

"I say dismember them quicker. Cut the head off, before they have a chance at getting at you," Savage butted in.

Isaac glared briefly at Savage, while Matthew merely exhaled lowly through his nose and rubbed his face in irritation.

"And what should we tell the other three?" Matthew eventually asked, pulling his head back from his hand.

"Tell them to keep watch, and report in on anything that happens," Savage instructed.

And at that moment, Isaac's Howler started to glow and let out a growl, the wearer glanced between the others briefly, before tapping the crystal and said, "Yes?"

" _Isaac? We've got a problem."_

* * *

" _What kind of problem?"_

"The 'Shady-Government-Being-Shifty' kind of problem," Tanya responded, leaning over the edge of the building, scanning the streets below. Said street was void of any civilians, more police filling in their place and cruisers littered the street, sirens blaring. Sitting in the middle of the cluster of police cars, besides an utterly ruined car, was the black SUV Tanya had spotted approaching the area at speed.

And several armed, SWAT-like officers came piling out of the SUV, swarming the area, when a large black van came through the area, this one filled with unarmed, but protected soldiers with large, tent-like covers which they placed over the remains of the Wolkein-creature.

" _What are they doing exactly?"_

"Haven't got a clue, can't see from here, but they seem very interested in the Wolkein that nearly dissolved you."

Tanya heard an exhale through the comms, and she tried her best to suppress a smirk. _"Just keep an eye on what they're doing,"_ Isaac added.

"Got it boss," Tanya replied, a trickle of sarcasm in her voice, before cutting off comms before Isaac had a chance to respond to her.

"You done pissing Isaac off?" Kyle asked, taking a seat against the raised edge of the building and leaned back. Tanya looked across at Kyle briefly, before looking back at Natalie.

She shook her head briefly, and Tanya knew she was smirking underneath her helmet. "I'm never gonna get tired of that," She replied.

Kyle scoffed, but shook his head lightly.

* * *

"They still there?"

Another officer looked over his shoulder, eyes briefly glancing up to the roof top, the brief flashes of black, yellow and white stood out against the overcast sky. "Yeah, they're still there," He replied.

"What do you reckon they're waiting for?" The female officer replied.

"They're waiting to see if you fail at doing your job," Clint replied, the Division 13 soldier walking by the pair of officers as they talked, his rifle in hand, trigger finger resting against the side of the weapon.

The two officer glared at Clint briefly, before looking away by the time he walked off.

Clint walked around several other officers, working his way around the parked SUV's before slowly slipping between the white, plastic curtain, separating the outside world with what was going on inside.

Upon entering, he saw several forensic-style people in all white body suits, masks and goggles moving delicately around a smashed car, and the speared body that lay beside it. He looked around briefly, before his eyes found the person he was looking forward.

One hand holding the rifle's grip, he walked across the enclosed area and came to a stop, standing beside E. The agent stood silent, watching as the forensic people carefully gathered the remains of the body. Some moved back and away when they discovered their gloves were burning off, but others quickly moved in to replace them.

E glanced aside briefly at Clint, before looking back at the body. "Rylee recovering?"

"She's recovering well, despite her protests," Clint responded, his eyes focused on the body as it was shifted into a body bag, and slowly zipped up. All that remained on the floor, once the body was removed, was a small puddle of the strange dark green/red mixture.

"I'll be putting you in the van with the specimen," E instructed, looking aside at Clint as a team of three forensics carried the body bag over the car's crumpled bonnet, and onto a collapsible body trolley.

"Understood," Clint responded, going to follow slowly after the forensics, but E placed a hand on his shoulder, stopping him momentarily.

"If the Rangers intervene.. you know what to do," E instructed.

Clint glanced back at E briefly, before nodding slowly. "Yes sir," He replied. E nodded slowly, and released his hand from Clint's shoulder.

Now free, Clint followed, then escorted the forensics through the white dividers of the investigators cover. E watched them go, his hands coming back to rest behind his back. They remained there as his phone suddenly rang.

"Yes?" E asked, the phone raised to his ear. "Ah, Miss Fairweather. Glad you could return my calls."

* * *

" _Hey, they're on the move,"_ Natalie said, lightly nudging Tanya, and gestured to over the edge of the building.

Tanya looked across at Natalie, before gently kicking Kyle's leg and gestured for him to get up. She then looked over the edge of the building, hands resting on the raised side. Kyle quickly scrambled to his feet and he too looked over the edge of the building.

They saw a group of white-covered forensics wheeling something on a body trolley out of the forensic tent, accompanied by an armed Division 13 soldier. They walked through the police and their cruisers, and approached the side of a large, black van. They opened the back doors and slowly slid the body trolley into it. The back doors were closed up after a couple of the forensics, as well as another pair of soldiers, climbed in the back.

The solider that had initially come out of the cover moved around to the passenger side, and climbed in.

" _We following them?"_ Kyle asked, looking across at the two females.

" _Savage, want us to tail these guys? They're taking that Wolkeins'' body with them,"_ Tanya asked into her Howler, keeping an eye on the truck.

" _Yes, follow them. And get the Wolkeins' body off them. If they get away with that, who knows what they'll use it for,"_ Savage replied.

" _Basically, fuck them up and get the body,"_ Isaac's voice said over the comms. _"We'll come and help you."_

" _No, we can handle this. We don't need you getting the ego, thinking you're the answer to all of our problems,"_ Tanya responded, smirking under her helmet. It quickly vanished when she added, _"Besides, you need to rest. Matt, you come help us."_

" _On it,"_ Matthew's voice came over the comms.

Tanya lowered the Howler, cutting comms off, and aimed all of her focus on the truck, which had yet to move off.

" _Uh, Tanya?"_ Kyle asked, his attention not on the truck ahead of them. Rather, something to his left.

" _What?"_ She asked, not taking her eyes off of the vehicle.

" _We may have a slight, small problem."_

" _Mind giving me at least some sort of idea?"_ Tanya asked, turning her attention to Kyle.

Instead of responding verbally, Kyle simply gestured to the side, down on the road, but roughly at a small alley, hidden between the next two buildings over. Tanya looked over at spot he was gesturing to, and for a moment, time seemed to freeze.

Stranding just inside the alley, taking partial cover behind a pile of trash bags, was _her._ Tanya was there.

" _Um.. who is that?"_ Kyle asked.

" _The bitch who killed my Father,"_ Tanya said, snapping out of the freeze and clenched her fists around the edge of the building with such force that Kyle had to pull back from the edge, seeing a large crack forming around her hands.

" _Hey, they're moving off,"_ Natalie pointed out, gesturing down ahead of them. Sure enough, the engine of the truck had turned over into life, the exhaust churning out fumes, and it slowly pulled away, moving down the street and picking up speed.

" _You guys are going after that truck. This bitch is mine,"_ Tanya said, stepping away from the edge of the building and began heading to the side, towards the next building, jumping over the alleyway and landing on the next building.

" _Tanya, wait!"_ Kyle said, getting up to chase after Tanya, but Natalie grabbed his arm, holding him back. He looked back at her, trying to pull himself free.

" _Let her take care of this, we've got this,"_ Natalie said, letting go of his arm and gestured to the quickly moving truck. Kyle looked back at Tanya, who had quickly moved into a sprint across the rooftop, before looking back at Natalie.

" _I hate it when you're right,"_ He eventually said, quickly running in the other direction and running across the rooftop, following after the truck. Natalie quickly followed suite, rushing across the rooftops after Kyle. The two becoming mere blurs of white and black as they ran and jumped across rooftops, keeping track of the truck.

When the truck to a sharp left, the two quickly jumped off the side of the building and headed straight for the road, grabbing onto the side of the building and dragging chunks of rubble down with them as they tried to slow their descent.

Upon reaching the ground, they quickly became blurs once more, rushing after the truck, leaving piles of rubble on the ground in their wake. Windows smashed, chunks of the building torn from their places, and police looking in their direction, seeing the destruction.

"Should we follow them?" One officer asked.

"Don't bother. You've proven your peashooters don't work on them."

A number of officers turned as E exited the cover, through the dividers, phone in hand, tapping it once before slipping it back into his pocket. "Get your boys back to the precinct. My guys have it from here."

The officers glanced at one another briefly, looking between themselves and E, before a few began holstering their pistols and others followed, heading back to different cruisers.

E watched the police dispersed, his hands resting in his pockets, as he looked down the opposite end of the street. A quick flash of yellow was visible for a brief second, vanishing down an alley. Glancing around momentarily, E began walking in that direction, trying to make it seem as casual as he could make it.

Picking up to a slight jog to make it to the other side of the street, E walked along the sidewalk and towards the alley's entrance. Though faint, he could hear what sounded like fighting going on, along with the sounds of bricks smashing, and hitting the ground.

Pausing beside the alley entrance briefly, E closed his eyes and listened closely.

Two people.. two females.. one of the Rangers, obviously from the modified voice, and the other.. the other sounded young, but not too young. Fists landing, blows colliding with walls and large items getting thrown.

Slowly pulling his pistol from the holster on his hip, E slowly shifted closer and peaked around the corner of the alley.

He's assessments seemed correct. Two people were in the alley, throwing punches at one another and progressively moving deeper in the alley. One of them was a Ranger - the Yellow Wolf - and her modified grunts as she threw punches at the other person. A teen girl, probably no older than 17, was blocking and throwing her own punches in return, looking as though she was struggling to hold her own against this spontaneous attack.

But when he went to move in and intervene, he saw something he really should have expected. The teen grabbed a hold of the Yellow Rangers' wrist when a fist came flying towards her, and managed to throw the Ranger over her body and onto a closed large trash container, the plastic nearly giving way under the force, and a short groan came from the Ranger.

Eyes widened momentarily, E pulled himself back behind cover and pulled his phone out, and slowly aimed it around the corner, tapping the 'RECORD' button that was present at the bottom of the screen.

* * *

"They following us?" The driver of the truck asked, checking in the wing mirror every few seconds. Panic was evident in his tone as he gripped the wheel tightly.

"Just shut up and focus on the damn road, OK?" Clint said, checking the mirror on his side, bringing the rifle off from the space between him and the driver, making sure it was primed and ready. The driver glanced at the rifle, a hint of doubt visible.

He sighed shakily, and turned to look back at the road. Thankfully, the lights were all green for them as they powered down the road. The lane dividers seemed to blur together.

In the back of the van, the people sitting in the back, three forensics, all in clean-whites, and an additional three Division 13 soldiers, were sitting on either side of the collapsed body trolley. Their bodies shifting with the movement of the truck.

Silence was the only noise within the back of the truck, the only sounds came from outside, the wind clashing against the front of the speeding vehicle.

But something much more present, and powerful, made itself known to the truck.

The metal frame behind the head of one of the D-13 soldiers suddenly gained a forceful dent, smashing right in the back of the head of the soldier, sending him flying to the opposite side of the truck. He groaned lowly, his nose bent to the left and bleeding, as the other soldiers got up. A couple went over to check on him, while others moved closer to investigate the large dent.

Like someone had decided to shoulder-barge against the side of the truck.

Another dent slammed into the same side of the truck, several bolts holding the metal plates together pinging off, ricocheting off of the opposite side and coming to rest shortly afterwards.

"The fuck is going on?" One of the D-13's asked, taking a step closer to the dents, glancing at the other D-13's and the forensics.

"It's the fucking Power Rangers," Another D-13 said, cocking the prime of his rifle back and bringing it up to his shoulder. He slowly drew a step closer, trying to compensate for the bumping and sudden swerving of the truck.

"Shit, shit, shit!" The driver exclaimed, taking a sharp turn down another road, the truck swerving sharply, the tires marking themselves against the road.

"Just keep driving," Clint instructed, strangely calm given the current situation as he rolled down his window and looked back, his short hair getting whipped up against the high winds.

A flash of white caught his attention, just behind the truck. He leaned more against door, trying to get a better look, but he saw nothing; the flash didn't appear again. Grunting slightly in frustration, Clint pulled himself back into the truck and said, "They're toying with us. Get us fucking out of here."

"Guys! They're trying to get in here!" The muffled voice of one of the soldiers said, followed by muffled banging from the back of the truck.

"Just hang tight! We're trying to get out of the city!" Clint shouted back, before reaching for his rifle again and quickly went to aim out through the window again, but the driver stopped him.

"Shit!" He exclaimed, slamming on the breaks hard, Clint's body jerking forward, almost getting ripped out of his seat, had he not had his seatbelt on. He was brought back to the seat when the screeching tires brought the vehicle to a stop.

"What the fuck was that for?" Clint snapped, glaring at the driver, who remained quiet, seemingly shaken, his hands gripping the steering wheel so tightly he was sure his knuckles would go permanently white.

He slowly unclasped one hand, and pointed in front of them. Clint looked forward, and he slowly reached for the pistol at his holster, setting the larger, easy-to-see rifle to one side, but before he could pull the weapon out entirely, a blue blur suddenly shot across the front of the truck, right by his window.

Clint grunted suddenly in pain, his right arm being held twisted at an odd angle, like just a fraction more pressure would dislocate it, his trigger finger firmly twisted in the guard for the pistol's trigger, forcing his entire arm to get twisted. He looked to the window, and his glare hardened, gritting his teeth, as he came face-to-face with the Blue Ranger.

" _Now, now. You'll end up hurting someone with that,"_ He said, tapping the pistol slightly, sending a pained feeling rolling through Clint's arm, electing another grunt from the soldier. _"Well, someone apart from us, anyway."_

Clint looked back to the driver of the truck, but found that he had problems of his own. The Black Ranger was at the opposite side, a fistful of the driver's clothing and armour in his hand, the sunlight gleaming off both Ranger's visors.

" _You find what we're looking for here, Omega?"_ The Blue Ranger called, looking towards the back of the truck. It was at that moment, Clint heard muffled shouting coming from the back of the truck, followed by sudden _thuds._

" _Well, they left it all packed up for us to pick up. Wasn't that kind of them?"_ A modified voice came from behind the truck, followed by another _thud_ of a heavy weight on tarmac.

" _Very kind,"_ The Blue Ranger replied, twisting the pistol, and thus Clint's arm, harder, forcing the soldier to twist his body slightly to compensate. _"Now, we're going to let you go, and you're going to be a good little boy scout and get going."_

"I'm going get you back for this," Clint growled, glaring at the Blue Ranger.

A modified chuckle came from the Ranger, before responding, _"That'll be the day, dipshit."_ A low growling made itself known, all of a sudden, and the Blue Ranger raised his other wrist to his helmet, looking aside at it briefly. _"Yeah, what is it? Toying around with this fucker."_

" _If you're quiet done, I need some help with this bitch! She's-!"_

Another altered voice came over the comms, sounding strangely feminine, before getting cut off sharply. The Blue Ranger looked across at the Black Ranger, before gesturing back with a jerk of his head. Almost at the same time, the two released the driver and Clint, and were gone in flashes of black and blue.

* * *

" _Yeah, what is it? Toying around with this fucker."_

" _If you're quiet done, I need some help with this bitch! She's-!"_

Tanya was cut off when she was struck from the side, with such force that she was sent flying into the side of the alley, almost going through the wall of the building.

Shaking her head, she quickly pushed herself to her feet again and dodged a punch thrown at her, the fist slamming into the brick wall, making the indent deeper. Tanya threw a pair of punches at the other Tanya, blocking a punch from it and delivering a head-butt.

The other Tanya stumbled back, a feral snarl escaping through her grit teeth, as it threw wild punches and kicks to Tanya, but the morphed Tanya blocked the majority of the attacks, and avoided the rest of them, managing to bounce up and over the other, flipping in the air and landing behind.

When the other Tanya turned to throw a punch, Tanya blocked it with one forearm and threw a glass bottle at her, shattering across her face, tearing the flesh. A loud hiss came from it, green blood escaping the large cut across her cheek.

Tanya shifted back into a fighting stance, fists clenched as the scarred Tanya turned to face her, growling lowly, green blood oozing down the side of her face, and her eyes turned from her own eye colour to a sickly green.

"You're going to regret that," The scarred Tanya snarled, her voice changing from Tanya's own and to a tone the real Tanya knew too well...

" _You Bitch!"_ She snapped, throwing several punches at 'Tanya', who she now knew to be the she-Demon they had faced multiple times.

Batibat put her arms together, blocking the punches thrown at her but failed to deflect the arms when they grabbed her wrists. Tanya shifted her feet and swung Batibat around, slamming her threw the already dented wall, smashing right through the side of the building.

Tanya stood in the large gap created, bricks still falling, and eventually stepped through it. Looking around, she discovered they had busted through the side of a Korean Hairdressers; several people were in seats, in the middle of getting their hair cut, but they all turned to look at the newly formed hole to the back.

" _Get out,"_ Tanya bluntly ordered, stepping through the hole entirely and looking around briefly. The civilians, and their hairdressers, remained motionless for a few seconds, stunned. " _NOW!"_

At the shout, they quickly leapt to their feet and rushed towards the door, pushing and shoving each other in order to get out. Tanya turned back from the door, looking around for where Batibat had landed.

But someone grabbed her from the side, by the throat, and threw her across the other side of the business, slamming into a large mirror, shattering it into several pieces. Batibat slowly approached Tanya, more and more sections of the 'Tanya Skin' she had adopted started to peel away, revealing her true form underneath. The writhing skin sections fell to the ground, evaporating into black-and-green smoke. Soon, her long black dress/jacket combo had returned, and her long black hair was flowing down her shoulders once more.

Tanya pulled herself from the mix of mirror shards and rubble, and found herself looking at Batibat, in her true form. She slowly clenched her fists, and drew her curved blade. _"I'm going to enjoy fucking you up,"_ She snapped, adjusting her stance with the blade.

"Funny, I was going to say something similar," Batibat replied, a twisted smirk twitching at the corner of her lips, and drew a pair of her own daggers.

" _What? You were going to start the fight without us?"_

Both Tanya and Batibat turned to look at the source of the voice, and found Matthew and Kyle standing in the hole they had created. _"I thought we agreed that me and Kyle were the ones that could fuck property up, so they don't hate all of us,"_ Matthew commented, grabbing a loose brick around the hole and pulling it free, before letting it fall to the ground.

" _Yeah.. you do a shit job, T,"_ Kyle added.

" _Shut it, the pair of you. This bitch is the one that killed my Dad, and you're going to help me kill her, right here and now,"_ Tanya said, or rather, commanded.

" _I wouldn't mess around now, Matt,"_ Kyle whispered, his tone changing entirely when he heard Tanya's, looking to Matthew briefly, but jerking his knuckle-dusters into the backwards position, and slowly moved into the ruined business.

Matthew followed suit, his spear in hand as he moved around the opposite side, the three Warriors surrounding Batibat.

The She-Demon looked around slightly, shifting between each of the Warriors, before looking back through the hole she had helped create. Her eyes widened briefly, however, when she saw something.

"I'm wasting my time with you, Warriors, I've got what I came for," The she-Demon hissed, looking between the three Warriors again before snapping her fingers sharply. A black-and-green portal swirled beneath her, and she slipped through, just as the Warriors rushed to attack her.

The three simply ended crashing into one another, weapons getting scattered everywhere. When she saw that they hadn't got the Demon, Tanya shouted out in frustration, slamming her fists into the polished floor of the hairdressers, cracking the surface.

" _That bitch!"_ She shouted, and it looked as though the remaining mirrors shook at the pitch of her shout.

" _We'll get the slippery fucker next time,"_ Matthew groaned, untangling himself from the others and ending up falling back onto the floor, arms spread out.

Yet Tanya remained seething, her hands clenched tightly, and small shards of the floor was getting crushed into dust. Kyle could see this, and went to put a hand on her shoulder, but hesitated, simply letting his hand fall again, and looked to his Howler.

" _Uh, Savage? Natalie get there yet with the body?"_ He asked, glancing shortly between the other two.

" _She's just arrived."_

* * *

"She just arrived," Savage said, looking across at the opposite side of the Den, as Natalie stepped forward from her column of white light, a large, black body bag carried over her shoulder. Upon reaching one of the raised tables, she threw it up and across the table.

"Now, let's see what this fucker looks like when it's not attacking," Isaac said, gesturing to the body bag as he and MUTT walked over, Savage hung back, leaning against the controls and desks.

MUTT moved in first, standing to the opposite side of the table to Natalie, a quick glance up between them, and Natalie stepped back, going around to join Isaac, standing at his side. She brought her hands up and removed her helmet, a faint _hiss_ sounding off as her hair came down and her helmet was brought under her arm.

" _All I need is a direct sample of the creature's DNA, and to examine the claws to understand their genetic makeup, and see how it's possible for their ability to go through the Armor's defences,"_ MUTT explained, gripping the zip of the body bag and slowly pulled it down.

One of the creature's arms flopped out of the bag as it opened, the metallic claw-ended fingers tapping against the table's edge, a small couple of mixed coloured droplets dropping onto the table. Thankfully, unlike the Warriors' armoured suits, it didn't start smouldering and smoking. MUTT eventually took the bag away from the creature entirely, and turned his attention back to the still creature.

Sticking a syringe directly in the chest of the creature, MUTT drew the strange mixture of blood and acid into the syringe, and pulled it free once it was full. He then moved back to the computers, briefly looking to Savage.

Savage looked back at MUTT, before slowly stepping aside. MUTT then moved forward once again, and he was able to stick the end of the syringe into a port beside a couple of the keyboards. As he tapped away, the liquid slowly fed into the machine, leaving the syringe empty after nearly a full minute. The screen before MUTT was soon filled with several images, flicking through them rapidly.

Far too fast for either Isaac or Natalie to keep pace, the latter of which had to look away, blinking rapidly to stop a flashing that was sticking to her eyes.

" _Strange."_

"What is?" Isaac asked, nudging Natalie's shoulder briefly before gesturing to the screen; the images had stilled, focusing on two.

" _The compounds of this creature's fluids. While the majority of the components are of Demonic origin, but the minority.. this strange compound that explains the blood's acidic nature.. is Human."_

"What?" Natalie asked, blinking slowly as she looked back at MUTT, before looking to Isaac, his expression mirroring her own - surprised, yet with a sliver of curiosity hidden behind it.

"Uh.. any sort of idea on _whose_ blood it is? Or is it, like.. a cocktail?" Isaac asked.

" _Interesting you say that. I've got a test currently running to see if there is one particular strong strand of DNA present, and comparing it to recently recorded deaths in the United States,"_ MUTT said, closing one screen. This revealed yet more flashing images. While one side remained stationary, focused on a simple, microscopic image of the blood cells, the other flashed rapidly. The images flashing through different faces, changing between gender, skin colour and age. Before long, one image stuck on the screen and the surrounding areas around the two pictures flashed green.

A match.

" _We have a match,"_ MUTT confirmed, tapping at a keyboard to bring up the latest images' details. The picture, of a dark-skinned female, looking around her 30s, along with her details.

" _Charlotte Nash,"_ MUTT read, enhancing the details available to them. A rather extensive, detailed history of her past and present. _"Residency, Pax Valley. Date of Death.. 15_ _th_ _November, 2017."_

"Wait? November 15th? Is there.. there a reason for death?" Isaac asked, stepping forward briefly to look over MUTT's shoulder.

"Why do you ask?" Natalie asked, looking at Isaac.

"Don't you remember?" he asked.

MUTT's fingers tapped the keyboard briefly, before he said, _"Cause of Death – Complications. Additional Notes – Died outside Pax Valley Community Hospital."_

Natalie's eyes widened at the realization, and she said, "She's one of the people from Fear's attack on the hospital."

Natalie looked aside at Isaac, who had grown quiet when MUTT had given the reason for the person's death, stepping away from he had been standing, walking around the Den's central room. Eventually coming to a stop on the opposite side, taking a slow sit down, bringing his hands up to his face, rubbing his jaw and cheeks slowly.

It didn't go unnoticed by the others; Savage looked to MUTT, who both looked to Natalie. Natalie looked back at the two, before mouthing 'what?' Savage gestured to Isaac, whose back was to them, and gestured, 'do something'.

Tightening her jaw briefly, Natalie slowly turned and walked over to Isaac, her footsteps sounding unbelievably loud in the silence of the room. When she eventually reached the seat beside him, sitting down to face the opposite way. She raised her hand, and gently placed it over his shoulder.

Though subtle, she felt his muscles tighten under the armour. He glanced briefly over his shoulder, but his gaze quickly looked down again. "It could have been her…"

"Isaac…" Natalie started, but was cut off.

"My mum.. it could have been her... I-I would've been.. fighting her…" Isaac started, clearly trying to keep his voice level. But the way his shoulder rose and fell quickly, Natalie knew he was trying to keep himself under control. "W… Would've.. ki-k…"

Natalie's hand moved down to rub his back gently, shifting closer. "Don't. Just.. don't say it."

"I.. would've _killed_ her.. and I... I wouldn't have even.. even noticed…"

"Isaac," Natalie said, somewhat firmly, as she shifted against Isaac more, turning around to face Isaac's direction, one arm going around his shoulder. The hand moved up to rub her thumb against the side of his neck, closing her eyes.

She could feel his neck twitching slightly, and the shaky breath was a clear enough sign to Natalie.

The final sign was the way Isaac quickly brought one hand to his eyes, rubbing his cheeks briefly.

Natalie looked back at both Savage and MUTT, shaking her head briefly. Looking to MUTT, who nodded knowingly and turned back to face the screen, tapping one key. Immediately, the screen vanished, leaving it black.

Several flashes of colour filled the main room briefly, before the other three Warriors were teleported into the den. Natalie looked back again, seeing the other three walk forward, Tanya the first to notice them, and made a beeline towards the two, walking across Matt and Kyle, forcing them to step back briefly, before they too noticed the reason.

Tanya slowed her approach, briefly looking at Isaac before looking to Natalie, gesturing 'what happened?'

Natalie simply shook her head, but gestured for Tanya to take her place, slowly pulling her arms away from Isaac, and let Tanya take her place. Her arm going around Isaac's shoulder, taking her other hand to remove her helmet. Placing it on her other side, and sat in silence with the Red-clad Warrior.

Kyle looked towards Tanya and Isaac briefly, before he heard the very faint sound of _crying._

 _Crying._

" _What happened?"_ Kyle asked, looking to Savage and MUTT, stepping up to them. While he was trying to keep calm, there was a definite aggressiveness to his movement.

Savage straightened up and met Kyle, the two standing toe-to-toe briefly, Kyle glaring up at Savage, their glares meeting, before Kyle eventually dropped the glare and stepped back.

" _I will keep a record on any more of these creatures we encounter,"_ MUTT said eventually. The silence was starting to become stuffy, filling the Den, even with his robotic voice, the sound alone helped.

"Good. Best to keep a record of any more that show up," Savage agreed softly.

 **~Epilogue~**

"That could.. have gone better..."

Clint grunted briefly, glaring at the doctor working at his shoulder, he'd taken off his jacket and shirt, his weapons resting on the desk to his other side, gloved hands worked around his left shoulder, several large bruises along the arm. But they looked relatively old, not recent. Several other old cuts were visible across his exposed torso, one running up his shoulder and over his back.

"You'll live."

He looked up at the sudden voice, but only relaxed a little when he saw it was E, standing in the doorway, leaning against the frame. In one hand, a pair of coffee cups in a cardboard holder. E stepped into the small, dark white room, surgical equipment scattering across the desks and the walls of the room.

Looking like a temporary operating theatre.

Setting the holder down on the desk, beside Clint's rifle, and handed one of the takeaway cups to Clint, who took it in his free hand, and took a small sip of the drink. "Tastes like fucking dishwater," Clint grunted, setting the cup down on the floor beside him.

"Well, personal preference," E replied, taking a sip of his own cup, setting it back down on the desk, and walked around the room briefly. After another few minutes the doctor seeing to Clint gave him the all clear, and left the room, leaving it with just the two of them.

"So what do you want? This about losing the body?" Clint asked, getting to his feet and walked over to the clothes hanger, holding his shirt and jacket.

"Little bit of yes, little bit of no," E replied.

"What's with you and doing all that cryptic wording and shit? Is it the British side of you?" Clint asked, sliding his shirt over and on him, and began to do the same with his jacket.

"I've told you to not mention that again."

Clint paused momentarily when he heard E's tone. Normally, he kept his tone civil and monotone, but this.. this meant he was treading on thin ice. "Sorry," Clint eventually said, putting his jacket back on and approached; reaching for his weapons. Holstering his pistol first, and reached for his rifle.

"Either way... Yes, it's a pain that you've were unable to get the creature's body back here, but.. I think we've got a plan in the works."

"Have we?" Clint asked, faking amusement. Glancing to the side at E, the Agent just looking at the opposite side of the room, one hand wedged in the pocket of his coat, and the other pulled his phone out of the pocket.

"Yep."

A phone screen was suddenly presented in front of him, a video playing, kept relatively still; surprising for a phone recording.

It showed two figures, fighting down a narrow alley, throwing punches at one another, the missed punches smashed into the wall, shattering brick. One was the Yellow Ranger, clad in her yellow armour. Which was a strange difference to the others they had seen around the country…

The other, a human, seemed to be able to hold her own against the Yellow Ranger.

"So.. what? We've got a girl that can hold her own against a Ranger? We going after her now?" Clint asked.

"Nope. See, the problem we have here is.. that girl there, fighting the Yellow Ranger? That's our Yellow Ranger."

Clint turned to look at E fully, raising an eyebrow. "…Have you been smoking or some shit, E?"

"I'm serious," E responded, glaring at the soldier momentarily before he slipped his phone into his pocket. "I'll explain later. I'm going to need you help, we're getting a load of stuff coming here."

"What stuff?" Clint asked, following E as they exited the room, entering what appeared to be the inside of a large warehouse.

"Documents belonging to a one Angela Fairweather, former head scientist of the Lightspeed Aquabase. Her research should help us in this matter."

"Why've you taken research from a privately militarized Power Ranger Operation?"

"Simple, we're facing similar threats. Demons, Clint. Demons."

"And what about the Rangers we've got to deal with? What's going to happen to them?"

E stopped momentarily, looking aside at Clint. "We'll leave the good people of America to make that decision. Hopefully, they'll back the Suppression Act, and we'll be able to.. deal with the Rangers _our_ way."

* * *

 **Well, that was Episode 11. Will try to get the next episode out within the next two weeks.**

 **-Nf991 signing out.**


	13. Episode 12 - Out of this World

Episode 12 – Out of this World

Hurtling rapidly through space, yet from a distance looked as though it wasn't moving at all, an asteroid floated through the black void. It wasn't that big for an asteroid; barely a couple of miles across, and couldn't have been more than ten miles total circumference. As it slowly moved through space, small chunks broke off from the main body of the asteroid. Normally, gravity would keep the smaller chunks relatively close to the larger mass.

But another, greater force was pulling the smaller chunks away from the main asteroid. As the collective mass of rock continued to drift, it became clear that it was being effected by the gravitational pull of the Earth. A planet of blue seas and green land, half brightly lit up by the massive populations living on the surface.

And as it was pulled closer and closer to the Earth, a faint glow could be seen within thick cracks running throughout the asteroid - a sharp white, almost silver, glow forcing itself through the asteroid, and only growing brighter and stronger the closer it got to Earth.

The asteroid's tracks were being traced, being showed on several screens, large and small, to the number of people working frantically to pinpoint the point of impact for the approaching asteroid. One such screen, looking like an old black-and-green tracer, showed the trajectory of the asteroid's previous path, and several areas where they thought it was going to hit.

"We've been tracking this asteroid for at least three days now. It's been close enough that it should have started coming closer long before now, but something's stopping it from doing so."

E was silent for the moment, looking through the over-looking window, watching the multiple people working out where the asteroid was going to strike, and keeping track of it, voices overlapping one another in that room, but muffled through the glass.

"I may have an idea, but I will need to confirm it before we can assume anything," E eventually replied, turning around to look to the only other person in the room. A relatively middle aged man, around 30, with thick brown hair and matching coloured goatee. A simply black tie was around the white collar of his shirt, with a small 'NASA' logo over the chest pocket.

The other man looked up, and said, "Please, enlighten me to your theory."

"I'm afraid, Dillon, I am not allowed to reveal the nature of my business," E responded, pulling his hands out of his pocket and approached the small table that was to the side of the room, opposite Dillion, and began tapping at a small laptop he had brought with him, a beeping flash drive plugged into the side.

"C'mon, Elijah-"

"I've told you not to call me by my name, Dillon."

Dillon's partially pointing finger dropped slightly at the edge to E's tone, looking at the Agent in a slight look of disbelieve. Yet E didn't return the looks, merely focused on the laptop before him, or looking at the many screens visible through the window.

" _Fine_. E.. this information hasn't been leaked to the public yet, but that's not going to last long."

"Is that a threat, Dillon?"

"You know I'm unable to successfully threaten you," Dillon sighed, leaning back into his seat, bringing his hand to carefully pinch the bridge of his nose, rubbing his face slowly, lifting his glasses off his face momentarily. "You'd have my ass lit up before I'd get to you."

A small, split-second smirk twitched at E's face, before he replied, "You would be correct."

Dillon went to speak again, but was interrupted when E's phone suddenly started vibrating; considering it was resting on the table, beside the laptop, and the screen flashed with the vibrations. E quickly answered and said, "E speaking."

" _E, its Clint. You asked me to go through some of the Lightspeed files you wanted me to go through,"_ Clint's voice came over the phone. Thankfully, to E, he was the only one that could hear.

"And?" E asked, leaning back slightly in his chair.

" _Well, I'm still going through it. Seriously, why did they feel the need to print off every single thing they had?"_ Clint asked. E could hear the faint shuffling of paper in the background of the call.

"Since Lightspeed became compromised after dealing with their own problem, so Mitchell ordered all of their records be stored physically in an isolated warehouse," E responded, getting up from his seat and began pacing around the room. "Did you find what I wanted you to?"

" _Yep, the Ranger suit schematics."_

"Good, get copies for myself," E ordered. "Keep them at our warehouse, then take the original files back to Lightspeed. I'm going to be in New York, so keep the safe."

" _New York? What're you going there for?"_

"Business - you'll find out soon enough. Bit too big to cover up," E responded, his voice lowered a little, glancing briefly over his shoulder to Dillon, quickly looking back ahead when he saw Dillon was watching him.

He heard a sigh through the phone, before Clint responded, _"Fine. Give me a heads up when you're heading back, OK?"_

"Yep," Was E's simple response, before hanging up and slipping his phone back into his pocket. He looked at the several screens through the window briefly, seeing that they were all showing the same general idea of where the asteroid was going to hit.

"Keep me updated on any chances," E instructed, closing the screen of his laptop and tucked it up under his arm, removing the flash drive and putting it in his pocket beforehand.

"Not like I have much of a choice, what with your Division things," Dillon replied dryly, leaning back into his chair and bringing one hand to rest in his trouser pocket.

E merely shook his head for a moment, before he briskly left through the door, leaving Dillon by himself momentarily, and the silence was starting to get thick already. "Damn you, Elijah…" He muttered under his breath, getting out of his seat and walking out of the room about five minutes after E.

* * *

" _I've been tracking the progress of the asteroid for some time now; by the looks of it, you were correct, Savage. This asteroid is housing some sort of energy source, like the other Howlers."_

MUTT moved the images on his screen to the larger screen embedded in the wall, showing Savage and the Warriors standing in the centre of the Den behind him. While Savage was standing beside MUTT, however, the Warriors themselves had scattered themselves around the Den.

Isaac and Tanya were sat to one side, the latter carefully draping her arms around Isaac's shoulders, looking over his shoulder at something on his phone. Tanya's cheek idly brushed against Isaac's ever so often. While most may simply see this as a very close friendly gesture, Kyle knew otherwise.

Said teen glanced at the two every once and a while, between them and his phone as he tried to look up anything interesting, but all that was in his news feed was the damn asteroid MUTT was going on about. Meanwhile, Natalie and Matthew were to another side; Natalie had decided to bring a pack of cards with her when they came to the Den next, since on more than one occasion, at least one of them had been bored out of their minds.

There was one time Matthew and Isaac almost tried fighting, just to relieve the boredom of being stuck here.

Natalie glanced over her cards as Matthew studied his, briefly flinching his gaze up to look at Natalie.

"Hit me."

Natalie smirked slightly, before moving a hand and picking a card up from the deck that sat between them, flipping it over slowly and handing it over to the other teen.

"Fuck me," She heard Matthew mutter under his breath, slowly adding the latest card, a Nine of Clubs, to the other three he had fanned out before him. His expression twisted slightly in annoyance, glancing up at Natalie once again. "Can I change cards?"

"You lose," Natalie smirked, laying her pair of cards on the table - a Queen of Hearts, and an Ace.

Matthew glared up at Natalie, before throwing his cards onto the table; the Nine had pushed him way over 21.

" _And the estimated point of impact is…. 40_ _17'56.1''N, 72_ _50'25.4''W. 100 kilometres from the shore of Long Island, New York,"_ MUTT eventually said, tapping one final key to bring up the coordinates he said aloud. Pulling up a map to show the beeping, flashing red light just off the shore of Long Island.

"We're going New York?" Matthew asked, getting up from his seat. He really needed a distraction from losing to Natalie at cards.. _again._

"Some of you are. We cannot leave Pax Valley undefended anymore. The last time you left to collect Zords, Batibat and Fear tore apart one of your hospitals further, and were we lucky that they stopped before they had a chance to cause more damage," Savage said, turning around to look around at the teens. "So, only two of you will be going."

"Me and Isaac can go," Tanya volunteered, unwrapping her arms from around Isaac's shoulders, and got to her feet. Isaac perked his head up at the mention of his name, before looking around, quickly putting together what was asked.

"Yeah, me and Tanya can go Long Island," He added.

"No."

All of the Warriors seemed to perk up when Savage simply, but firmly stated this, as though it was fact. "Tanya, you are to stay here. Natalie, you are to accompany Isaac."

"Uh... OK?" Natalie said, a bit surprised by Savage's suggestion, briefly glancing to Isaac and Tanya as she got up, flicking a few strands of her hair behind her ear.

"Tanya, Matthew and Kyle are to stay here, should Horror send one of his Demons, or Zeta forbid, Fear or Batibat. We will keep the two of you updated on anything regarding the asteroid," Savage instructed, stepping down from beside MUTT and into the middle of the Den.

Isaac looked back at Tanya briefly, seeing a faint flash of annoyance across her expression, before she shook her head and moved away from standing beside him, walking around Savage to join the other two guys. Natalie did the same as Tanya, going over to join Isaac in where he stood.

"So, we going now or what?" Isaac asked, breaking through the silence the seven of them were standing in.

"Not quite yet. MUTT, go get them," Savage said, looking back around to look and gesture for MUTT.

The robot pulled himself away from the computers and keyboards, and quickly disappeared through a sliding door beside the main station he was working at.

"What's he getting?" Matt asked, gesturing to the door MUTT had passed through to get.. whatever Savage had asked him to get.

"You'll see," Was the only response they got.

Not even a full minute later, the door slid open once again, and MUTT walked through, only this time, he was carrying at least four blades across his forearms. At second glance, Tanya noticed that they seemed to be of the same design of hers.

The others seemed to notice, too, and all straightened their posture slightly. MUTT came to a stop beside Savage, who took the top most blade from the small pile, identical to Tanya's, a large curved blade with two holes in the back of the steel to act as handles and grips, and the metal itself had a faint tint of red to it.

"I figured you could all do with an upgrade," Savage said, flicking the blade around slowly so that he was offering the grips for Isaac to take. Isaac briefly glanced up to the wolf, before taking the blade's handles and taking it under his own strength, quickly adjusting his grip when it felt heavier than he had expected.

"Took you long enough to give us ours," Matthew commented, yet had a wild smile across his face as he took his blade, looking over the blue-tinted steel briefly.

"It required me going to the Valley of the Dead, where you encountered the Rogues," Savage responded, handing both Natalie and Kyle's blades to them, tinted white and black, respectively.

"It'll take some getting used to, these," Natalie commented, her fingers tapping against the steel of the blade. Kyle had taken a few steps back, seeing what the blade felt like when he was swinging it with both hands.

" _You should get going now. I've estimated the time of impact to be 22 minutes from now,"_ MUTT suggested. On the screen, they could see the estimated area of impact narrowing down.

"Isaac, Natalie. Go," Savage ordered, turning back around to look at the screen briefly again. But looked back at the two again, just as the four handed out blades slowly faded into light and fed itself into the four Howlers of the Warriors. Once completely gone, Natalie and Isaac glanced at one another.

MUTT tapped at the keyboards before him, and moments later, Isaac and Natalie were enveloped in light and, shortly afterwards, vacant from the Den.

"Next time shit like this goes down, I want in," Matthew said bluntly, gesturing to where Isaac had been standing, while looking to Savage.

* * *

"Master.. you summoned me?" Batibat asked, already lowered onto one knee and her gaze hard on the ground. She knelt before the podium with the pedant sitting upon it, which had cracks glowing along the surface. They seemed brighter, and deeper in the caged gem than before.

" _ **Do you not feel it? The power.. their Gods' power.. it is drawing closer to this planet. One that has not been on this planet.. for quite some time…"**_

"I.. I'm afraid I do not feel what you speak of, Master," Batibat said quietly, her cast still firmly looking downward, focusing on one specific crack among the many that littered the floor.

A low, earthly growl came from the pendant at this statement from his Warlord, causing Batibat to briefly move back, before it died down and returned to speaking.

" _ **You are.. to go to the Human Realm.. and get the source.. when it lands on the planet. And bring it to me. Its power.. will be able to release me from this tomb."**_

"Yes, Master… Of course, Master," Batibat quickly said, pulling herself to her feet slowly but kept her gaze looking downward. "I won't be able to use the human form I took before, Master; the Warriors know."

" _ **Then use another form…"**_ The booming voice of Horror growled, like it was the most obvious thing in the Realm to do.. most likely because it was.

"Yes, Master," Batibat quickly replied, taking a small step backward before turning around briskly, the glowing light from the pedant started to die down, eventually fading into nothing altogether. Moments later, a green-and-black portal tore its way through in front of her.

Batibat briefly glanced over her shoulder at the podium, before righting her gaze to the portal and quickly walked through it. Passing through it silently and passing into the Human Realm as the portal closed itself up behind her.

* * *

Isaac and Natalie stepped forward from the columns of their respective coloured lights. A few weeks ago, they probably would have still been struggling getting used to the sudden shift, but now, they were accustomed to the violent rocking and shifting that they went through.

"So, this is Long Island, huh?" Isaac asked, taking a few steps forward, looking around. It seemed like they had landed someone relatively high, considering they were looking down at several buildi-

"Shit!"

Natalie quickly rushed forward to grab the back of Isaac's collar, pulling him back forcefully so he went flying back onto the floor, and as it turned out, the roof of the building.

"…That, would explain it," Isaac said slowly, pushing himself back onto his feet again and moved forward a few steps, albeit more carefully than the previous time. He peered down the edge of the building, finding they were relatively high up, yet the sound and smell of salt and the sea was so plain and clear in his head, he was sure his hearing would be effected.

Shaking his head briefly, Isaac looked around and found just how close they were to the sea - their building couldn't have been more than ten blocks from the water's edge. Probably why he could hear it so well.

"I'd expected this place to be rougher; New York after all."

"Just because one place is rough, doesn't mean the whole area is," Natalie countered, slowly walked over to stand alongside Isaac before the edge of the building. But something caught her eye, and she looked up with widening eyes.

"Uh, Isaac…?"

"New York's a rough place, Nat. Hell, I'm British and I know to stay away from some areas."

"Isaac."

"I mean, sure, England's no better, what with the South of London being a place where you'd probably get stabbed if you look at someone the wrong way."

"Isaac!"

Natalie grabbed the front of his shirt and jerked him to the side slightly, getting him to look at what had caught her eye. Though he briefly went to complain to her at her rough movements, he caught what she was trying to get him to see.

And his eyes widened as well.

Though it was small and distant, the sheer brightness being produced was enough to catch anyone's attention. Even if you weren't fully looking directly at it, your eyes would have been drawn to it.

The bright white streaked across the distant sky, breaking through the clouds that overhung the distant sky, as it suddenly and violently vanished below the horizon.

And as quickly as it had appeared, the streak had completely disappeared. But immediately after the flash disappeared, a cataclysmic-style explosion rang out across the sky. Isaac and Natalie's hands flew to cover their ears, in a vain attempt to preserve their senses. But it proved little to block the noise, as windows of the buildings around them shattered and the very walls and ceilings started to shake, as if threatening to collapse.

Thankfully, they didn't and the worst damage done, up to this point, was the shattered windows and a few blaring car alarms.

"…I'm guessing that that's what we're going to be going after," Natalie said after a few moments of silence, glancing across at Isaac momentarily as she pulled her hands from the side of her head. He had already taken his hands away from his ears, despite a loud ringing still echoing throughout his head, and was looking over the edge of the building. Evidently, something had caught his attention.

Taking a small step towards him, Natalie glanced down and scanned the streets briefly, but it wasn't the sight that caught her attention.

It was a smell. Metallic, but.. deeper. More intense than simple officers, which just had a brief flash of metal smell but smelled earthier. This, however, had layers and layers of metal-scents - it had been a while, for whoever was the source.

Her eyes snapped over to several possible sources, before her eyes landed on a familiar sight that brought a sinking feeling to her gut - a black SUV.

"Shit."

"What is it?" Isaac asked, briefly glancing at her and turning his eyes back to the roads short after.

"That black SUV. It smells like the one that we saw with the police in Pax after that Uber-Wolkein."

"'Uber-Wolkein?'"

"Fuck off, better than what MUTT would have called it," Natalie shot back.

Isaac briefly smirked, before focusing on the SUV Natalie pointed out. His eyes briefly looked around the vehicle, trying to look for any driver or occupant that was hanging around.

"Best be on our guard then, huh?" Isaac asked, slowly rolling his Howler-covering sleeve up to reveal the device firmly clasped around his wrist. Though faint, Natalie noticed what looked like speckles of dried blood on the skin around the tightly-gripped Howler.

"So, your plan?" Natalie asked, rolling her own sleeve up.

"I'm going to get out there, in my Zord, and try and get out there before the shitstorm from that impact effects here. You, meanwhile, are going to keep an eye on things. If that SUV means something from Pax is here following us, it means that they know about the Crystal as well."

"Wait, you're telling me to stay here?" Natalie asked, both astonished and aggravated. "And what do you mean 'Shitstorm'? It's already hit! didn't you hear the explosion?"

"That was the asteroid breaking through the atmosphere, and that'll be the least of our worries soon," Isaac said, tapping his Howler briefly before pressing the main crystal. Instantly, he was encased in red light. Seconds later, the light faded and he was in his Red Alpha form.

" _Don't worry, I'll call for you if I need you,"_ Isaac assured. But Natalie had her arms crossed, glaring at Isaac.

"I'm going to kick your ass when we get back to Pax," Natalie responded flatly, jagging Isaac's chest with her finger. But he simply chuckled and brushed her hand aside.

" _I'll make a time,"_ He replied, before another blast rang out. Looking back, the two saw a large shape falling from the sky, and forcefully landed in the water not too far from the edge of Long Island shore. Water went flying upward, coming back down to create large waves heading towards the shore. Luckily, they were nowhere near as potentially damaging as others. When the water somewhat settled, it was revealed to be the Red Alpha Zord, water sloshing against the large body, the legs and the tail tip.

" _My ride's here."_

Natalie watched as Isaac jumped into the air and quickly vanished in the cockpit of the Red Alpha, a brief flash of light forming when he entered, leaving her on the roof of the building, before she too tapped her Howler's crystal and was enclosed in her White Omega armor.

" _Smartass,"_ She muttered, before she walked to the opposite side of the building and looked down the side. Seeing an emergency ladder/staircase, she casually stepped off of the edge of the building and fell through the air.

The metal warping under her feet upon landing, the steel groaning at the impact. Yet she didn't take the time to notice, as she quickly walked down the metal stairs and dropping off the last step onto the ground.

" _Where's this fucker from Pax?"_ She asked herself, carefully walking through the alley. She knew she needed to be careful, now she was in her armor. God only knows they needed to be careful.

All of them did.

* * *

The police were having a hard time controlling the civilians' location with the appearance of the Red Wolf Zord landing in the shore. Some wanted to run as far away as possible, running through every nook and cranny of the area. So they had to be stopped. Some, however, decided that they wanted to try and get closer.

Pulling phones out and tried getting a shaky picture; so they had to push more officers to the front to hold them back, from getting any closer to the water.

One officer broke off from the rest after an order from his superior, quickly jogging up a small set of stairs and through an alley to get to the other side. "Sir," He said, slowly coming to a stop when he saw a man standing at a large railing, designed to stop people throwing themselves off the edge of the harbour.

E turned to look at the officer, hands still gripping the rusty railing, before turning back to look at the Red Wolf Zord. It's mass of metal standing high, despite the depth of the water it had landed in, and a brief flash of white to the head caught his attention.

"What is it?"

"Sir, would you like us to do anything about the Zord?" The officer asked, one hand resting on the grip of his holstered pistol. Keeled over slightly, trying to regain his breath.

"What can you do? Your guns can't do shit against the Rangers. What do you think it's going to do against their Zords?" E asked bluntly, looking at the officer again briefly. He could see the aggravation dance across the officer's face. "Go back to protect the civilians, officer. My men have it from here."

Though a moment's hesitation seemed to take the officer, he eventually departed wordlessly, leaving E by himself, watching as the Red Wolf Zord started to move off all of a sudden, its limbs moving slowly through the water, creating large waves as it moved away.

"Sir, what do you want to do?"

E looked over his shoulder again, and saw one of the D-13 soldiers approaching from behind. If he remembered correctly, he was.. Prince? Price? Yeah, Price.

"Captain," E greeted curtly, nodding slightly. Price came to a stop before E, arms clasped behind his back. "Keep your men stationed here for now."

"But sir," Price responded, "What about the asteroid? I thought we were going to get that. What if the Rangers get there first?"

"It makes our job a lot easier," E explained. "Get them to do the dirty work for us, and take it from them when they get back."

"I'm sorry sir, but I don't think it'll be that easy."

"Captain Price, you seem to forget these Rangers we're dealing with. They're always in pairs, whenever we've encountered them. Canada, Pax Valley.. they've always been in pairs when they go somewhere. So, more than likely, they'll be at least two of them. One of them, clearly, is in that Zord; meaning, one of them must be hanging around here."

"Would you like us to search around for the other Ranger?" Price asked, hands slowly slipping around the grips of his rifle, hanging around his chest.

E rolled his eyes slowly at Price's eagerness to bring the fire, probably why he had Clint brought to his go-to person. "Just.. take them around, but don't engage. Last thing we need is another media shitstorm on us," E instructed. "We've already got them scrambling for info after Canada, so _try_ and be subtle, OK?"

"Understood sir," Price nodded, briefly saluting before walking away, and began talking into his radio. "Alpha, Bravo, and Echo teams. Meet with me at the front of the Plaza."

E rolled his eyes, shaking his head briefly as he turned his attention back to the Red Wolf Zord. By this point, it had walked a considerable distance into the water, and was nearly submerged entirely under water. Only the red-and-silver head was partially visible, but that was slowly disappearing.

He watched as it finally disappeared below the water, like something from a Godzilla movie, only more robot, and less giant lizard. "Damn Rangers," He muttered under his breath, shaking his head slowly, bringing his hand up to rub the front of his face.

* * *

Several D-13 soldiers walked together, the roads cut off from letting any vehicle within the restricted area. The same had tried to be done with the civilians, but they always seemed to find a way to get around the blockades. But they'd leave that for the police to deal with.

They had more important things to deal with right now.

"You two, take the alley. You and you, opposite alley. Davis, with me," Price ordered, gesturing to both alleys briefly. Two groups split up, four in total moving to different alleys while one remained with Price as they moved to support one of the pairs approaching an alley.

Thankfully, the streets were empty, save for a few cars parked at the side of the road. All of the civilians were busy at the coast.

"Anything on the scanners?" Price asked.

One of the D-13's with him checked their forearms, where a small screen was visibly in the sleeve of the armoured top, with several graphs and charts slightly altering every other second.

"Nothing down here, sir."

"Sir! We've got something!"

Price quickly looked around to the other pair, and gestured for Davis to accompany him. The two male soldiers stayed as they were, as Price and Davis moved to the other pair. Price tapped the screen on his own forearm, and saw the scans were picking up small fluctuations, much too small for what the Rangers produced, but enough to get Price's curiosity going…

Silently gesturing for the other two, Price slowly raised his rifle to point down the alley as he pointed to two of the soldiers, and gestured down the alley. The two slowly moved into the alley, unfortunately for them, the sun was in such a position that cast the depths of the alley in shadow.

"Don't go too far guys," Price warned, making sure to keep the scope of his rifle aimed at the spot between the two soldiers as they moved down the alley. Eventually, they were out of his line of sight.

But that wasn't to last long.

One of the soldiers went flying backwards, hurtling through the air as he yelled out. He flew over the other soldiers, who instinctively ducked, as he collided with the opposite wall. The bricks cracked upon impact, and the limp body fell to the ground.

"Richard!" Davis exclaimed, as he and another rushed over to assess the damage done, and whether or not they could save him. Price and the other soldier turned back to look in the alley, and saw, and heard, several shots get fired. Bullets ricocheted off of the alley walls, before the rifle was seen flying back towards them, toppling over multiple times before coming to rest at Price's feet.

"Ethan! Ethan, what's going on?!" Price shouted, adjusting the grip on his rifle as he and the other soldier steadied their aim.

The only response he got was a faint shout, as if struggling to breath.

"Fuck this. Fire," Price ordered, taking the safety off.

"Sir, Ethan-"

"Fire!"

Small bursts came from his rifle, bullets flying into the alley, hoping to hit something. Preferably not Ethan, but if it came to that.. as long as they got the source. Though a moment's hesitation followed, the other soldier fired into the alley as well, bullets pinging off the walls and anything else that was in the alley.

Unexpectedly, they got something thrown back at them. Ethan's body.

The armour padding he wore was riddled with bullets, and torn in sections, which became clearer when it eventually come to rest beside his weapon. Several large cuts covered the exposed face, the helmet thrown away somewhere in the alley, and had several sections across his torso looked crushed, like a great force had punched his torso.

"Shit," The other soldier said, quickly kneeling to try and assess the damage to Ethan's unmoving body. Price grit his teeth slightly, grinding them together, before looking back down the alley. Stepping around the kneeling solider and body, he moved into the alley and fired another round of shots into the alley blindly.

It seemed the bullets hit nothing, but from the shadows behind a large pile of discarded waste, a clawed hand shot forward and grabbed Price by the throat, sending him pressing against the wall, held two feet above the ground.

"Captain!" The soldier shouted, coming to the conclusion of Ethan's fate, the injures were fatal. When he got no response, he shouted, "Captain!" louder.

Still no response.

He went to move forward into the alley, but something struck him in the chest and sent him stumbling back, suddenly breathing sharply, looking down to find a small, organically-designed dagger sticking into his chest, slicing through the body armour like it was nothing.

His rifle dropping to the ground, the soldier fell onto his back. Blood slowly seeping through his armour, forming a small pool around the side of his torso.

Davis and the only other remaining soldier quickly looked down the alley, rifles raised and ready. Their squad had been reduced to the two of them, and they didn't fancy their chances right now, despite all their armour and ammunition.

"Fuck this, I'm notifying E," Davis said, pulling out his radio and pressed onto the button.

But before he could speak a word, two more daggers came flying from the alley, sending the other solider flying back and Davis to the ground, falling onto his back, the dagger lodged through his forehead.

In a matter of minutes, the group of soldiers had been reduced to bodies littering the street, and the dark entity that was the source of all this quickly rushed out of the alley, keeping to the shadows casted by the sun, moving at speeds impossible for humans to reach.

* * *

" _MUTT, I_ can _actually go underwater with this thing can't I?"_

The silence of the water around the visor to the Red Alpha Zord's eyes, allowing Isaac to see what was in front of him, but the only thing he really needed to be careful of was the terrain and any large school of fish that didn't move out of his way.

" _You will be more than comfortably able to go out in the water at your current depth, as well as the depth of the Crystal's signal."_

" _Good, didn't want to get there, go out and end up getting crushed. That might fuck me up for life,"_ He responded flatly, his movements slow and robotic to keep the structure steady. Despite MUTT's guarantee that the Zords were safe to go deep underwater, he wanted to wait until he could see it for himself.

" _Hey, MUTT. If, by the odd chance, Isaac does get crushed and left at the bottom of the ocean, do I get promoted to Alpha?"_ Isaac heard the distinctive voice of Matthew in the background of the comms.

" _How about you suck one, Matt?"_ He asked dryly.

" _Ah, don't feel bad Matt. He's just unsure of which way he swings,"_ Kyle's voice came over the comms. Isaac had a pretty good feeling that MUTT wanted to cut the comms, but the other teens wanted to have it open as they had a casual conversation.

" _Whatever, guys."_

He heard a snigger over the static of the comms, but brushed it off as he looked around slowly. The wires moving with his slight movements, his arms moving back and forth slowly, in sync with his walking. _"This is fucking cool. Like Pacific Rim."_

" _Except without the Godzilla fuckers."_

" _Kaiju,"_ He heard Kyle correct.

" _They're hardly Jaegers, Kyle,"_ Tanya said.

" _Eh, there'll be a wolf-themed on in the sequel,"_ Kyle waved off.

" _Enough chatter. Cut the comms."_

Savage's voice broke over the others, before Isaac heard the faint static of the comms getting sliced from him.

" _Great,"_ Isaac muttered under his breath, before realizing he had come to a stop while chatting with the others. He slowly started moving again, building up a steady rhythm to walk along the seafloor. Several readings across his visor kept him up to date with the latest info, including water pressure and depth.

A small map suddenly grew from the side of his visor, and a small blip indicated what he was looking for, just a few kilometres away. Keeping the momentum up, the Zord covered the distance in little over fifteen minutes.

Just a few hundred meters away from the source, Isaac removed the HUD from his visor and managed to look through the Zord's eyes, a brightly glowing silver was over the ridge. If it was visible at this distance, in this depth, Isaac was glad for the built-in sunglasses with the visor.

" _Right, let's get this fucker and head back to Pax,"_ Isaac said to himself, lightly tapping the small console before him, before getting the Zord to start moving again. The distance was quickly closed, the Zord climbing the incline, its metallic claws digging into the ocean floor.

Finally, the Zord reached the source of the readings and the glowing, despite the automatic adjustments to his visor, as well as the Zord's visor, Isaac still raised his hand slightly to block the light from his eyes, the cables connecting to his arm brushing against his side faintly.

" _Fuck, that's bright,"_ He uttered, making a few small adjustments to his visor before moving closer. Savage and MUTT had been helpful enough to give instructions on how he was to collect the Crystal and the remains of the asteroid.

Unfortunately, they decided to give contradictory points, and MUTT used some words that Isaac had no idea what actually meant, and that robot voice of his didn't help matters either. But he felt he remembered enough to get through this.

When the light finally started to dim, as the Wolf Zord started to move over the actual source, and Isaac carefully manoeuvred one of the front paws over the glowing source. If it were a real wolf, and on land, it looked as though the wolf was raising an injured paw.

" _Alright, Isaac. Don't fuck this up,"_ He said to himself, as he slowly lowered the paw down over the crystal, acting as a vacuum, sucking up the Silver Crystal and several of the broken up parts of the asteroid. Amazed they had survived, both entry through the atmosphere and the impact with the water. The chunks of rock and the crystal moved up the now hollow leg, and began to pool in the torso of the Wolf Zord, like it was its stomach.

" _MUTT, its Isaac. I've got the crystal, heading back to Long Island now,"_ Isaac said over the comms, turning the Zord around and began the journey back to the shore. A small feed showing him that the crystal was getting fed up tubes, separated from the space rock, and heading up to the cockpit.

" _Good, get back to shore as soon as possible. We cannot teleport you or the Zord until you are above sea level."_

" _Bit of a shit design,"_ Isaac muttered. Luckily, the comms had cut off quickly after MUTT's words. He got a small notification, telling him that the Silver Crystal was just about to appear through the podium before him.

Slowly, a small panel opened up in the centre of the podium, and Isaac flinched momentarily at the sheer brightness breaking through the crystal. It took a few seconds for his visor to become adjusted to the light, but it allowed him to get a look at the source, first hand.

As he had expected, it was a simple, glowing clear gem, barely the size of a couple of coins stacked up. But the light produced from it gave it a slight silver vibe to it. _"All this, just for this damn thing? What makes this one so special?"_ He asked himself, slowly reaching a hand forward to grab the gem.

But the moment his fingers started closing around the gem, silver light shone from the crystal, covering Isaac's body and filled the cockpit with bright light. He wouldn't be surprised if it turned out, they could be seen from the surface. He shouted out in alarm and mild pain, bringing his other arm across his eyes to block the light, releasing the crystal.

It came to rest on the podium, just as before, and as soon as the light shone, it vanished. His breath quickening a little bit, Isaac lowered his arm again and whispered, _"What the fuck?"_ looking around in bewilderment. He quickly glanced at his wrist, the Howler, and he wasn't sure if he was just hearing things, but a faint growling was coming from the red crystal situated in his Howler.

" _O... K.. gonna need to ask MUTT about that,"_ Isaac uttered, before leaving the crystal were it sat on his podium and focused on getting to the shore as quickly as possible. _"Nat, I'm on the way back. Things all good on Long Island?"_

" _Not exactly!"_ The frantic tone of Natalie's voice gave that away immediately.

" _Why? What's going on?"_ He asked.

" _Fear decided to show up!"_

* * *

E turned his head slightly, something getting his attention. A brief beep had sounded, but was cut off as soon as it had started. He looked at the small radio attached to his belt, and he noticed the small light on the top was flashing green.

Someone was trying to get to him, but why had the beeping stopped?

Grabbing the radio, E raised it up to him and asked, "Hello? Who is trying to contact E?" while pressing the button. But all he got was static as a response, even waiting for a full minute, nothing came on.

"Report," He ordered. Again, just static. "Dammit," He grunted, before switching radio frequencies and asked, "Brave team, come in. Have you found anything?"

" _No sir,"_ Was the response he got a few seconds later.

"Well, what about the other teams? Alpha and Echo? They find anything?" E asked.

" _Echo team have reported in so findings, sir, but we haven't heard anything from Alpha team so far."_

"Is Captain Price with Alpha team?"

" _Yes sir,"_ The solider confirmed.

E flexed his fingers briefly around the radio, grinding his teeth slowly before he responded, "Well, see if you can find their location."

" _Understood, sir. Moving now."_

With that, E cut the radio chatter and put the radio back on his belt. Seeing that the Wolf Zord had yet to surface, the water starting to calm down after it had moved below eye sight, E turned around and began walking down the road.

He figured Price didn't tell the other groups, that he'd told E where he was going to check first. Now he just needed to get there, but he needed to make a quick stop first.

Jogging down the road briefly, he turned the corner and headed towards his SUV, parked up on the curb, hazard lights blinking every few seconds. Unlocking the car upon reaching it, E opened the back door and leaned in, throwing several items off of the seat and into the foot well.

Finally, he found what he was looking for and pulled himself back out of the truck, closing the door. This revealed the black suitcase that was in one hand, and something he stuffed into his jacket pocket. A brief looked over both shoulders followed, before E quickly walked down the road again, quickly moving on the sidewalk and walked along the streets.

E walked past several streets, crossing the vacant roads as he drew nearer to where he hoped Price was, looking inconspicuous, just a man in a coat carrying his suitcase. But as he was about to reach the area he was sure Price said he'd investigate himself, he heard something down one of the roads.

Pausing mid-step, leaving him in the middle of the road before he quickly moved onto the sidewalk and began walking down the road, the sound growing clearer, and he could make out individual grunts from a pair of individuals. Slowing down to stand against the corner, the sound of grunts and yells, punches landing against one another, one of which was slightly altered, giving a robotic tone to it.

"Ranger…" E whispered under his breath, pressing himself against the wall carefully and leaned over to look around the corner the slightest bit. But the moment he did, he quickly pulled back to avoid something striking the wall near where he was, a brick shattered, littering derby across the path.

Giving it a few seconds, E looked around the corner again, and finally managed to get a good enough look at the scene playing in front of him.

The White Ranger was moving across the street, a large blade, the metal tinted an off white, in her hands and swinging across her reach, blocking and giving attacks to the Bronze-armoured creature, pale stone skin across the bold head, who threw attacks back of its own, one hand with a large sword, and the other keeping small daggers between the fingers, acting as throwing knives.

E's eyes briefly looked down, and saw that the intact knife sat among the shattered brick, quickly crouching down, and pulling his other hand out of the pocket. Revealing that it had a thick, grey glove on, several cables working up the sleeve, and possibly beyond. He reached for the knife, and carefully picked it up, opening the suitcase at his other side at the same time.

As he went to put the knife in the special padding, and close the case back up, the White Ranger's altered voice shouted out.

" _Fear decided to show up!"_

He looked up, and saw the bronze-armoured creature had been thrown into the wall across the street, creating an indent in the side of the building, and the White Ranger had her Morpher to her helmet's mouth piece. But mere moments passed before this 'Fear' decided to rush from the wall and collide with the Ranger. The momentum carrying the Ranger across the street, colliding into both the side of a car and into the wall of a business.

Instantly, the car alarm started blaring, and the wall of the building looked about ready to collapse. E quickly pulled the radio out from the side of his belt, and activated it. "All D-13 units. Report to Kreamer Street, Ranger sighted. Do not engage. I repeat, do NOT engage."

* * *

The Red Alpha Zord broke through the water surface, sending large waves to the shore as it rose up. Bit by bit, more and more of the Red Alpha Zord's body was revealed, water coming out from small ports, like a metal waterfall.

Before it had fully breached the water, a flash of light appeared on top of the head, and a brief blur of red streaked across the sky towards the shore.

* * *

Natalie ducked from the latest attack, but missed the knee to her chest. The force sent her back a few feet, trying to catch the breath that had been forced out of her, but quickly raised her blade to block the sword. Fear pressed down his sword against Natalie's, the crossed blades barely an inch from her visor.

"You Warriors have been a pain in my side for too long," Fear growled, his eyes narrowed and teeth grit, as he kicked back and sent strikes of his sword to the White Warrior, but Natalie managed to block them, sparks flying when she blocked the side strikes.

" _If your Master knew better, he'd probably give up the first time,"_ Natalie snapped, managing to land a kick to Fear's chest armour. The force sent the Demon stumbling across the street, only coming to a stop when he fell against a car.

A low growl came from the Demon, and one hand slowly started to clench around the car bonnet, the metal warping under the strength. Throwing his sword to one side, Fear dropped to one knee and grabbed the underside and edge of the car's side, the metal warping and reforming under his grip.

Natalie watched, taking a slight step back, as Fear brought the car up and raised it above his head as though he was simply lifting an empty box.

"I have _NO_ Master!" He shouted, before taking one step forward, using this momentum to throw the car across the street, towards Natalie.

She quickly jumped into the air just in time as the car came crashing down on the spot she had been standing mere moments later. Something must have sparked in the fuel tank, because a sudden explosion rocked the street moment later. Alarms started blaring all across the street as Natalie landed. She briefly looked back to the burning wreck behind her, but quickly looked back.

Only to be met with a punch to her helmet, sending her to the ground, the back of her head striking the ground forcefully. The disorientation was enough for Fear to take advance, quickly standing over Natalie, and bending down to grab her throat. A surprised gasp came from Natalie, her hands flying to grab Fear's wrists.

But despite her improved strength, thanks to the Howler, Fear's grip around her neck was unmoving and only tightened. She tried kicking her legs out from underneath Fear, but failed to move him again.

"You forget your place, human.. you should be grovelling at my feet, begging for mercy. And you _dare_ think yourself worthy of speaking of me, like I have a Master… You are not worthy of the soil you walk on."

The more and more Fear spoke, the tighter the grip around Natalie's throat became, lifting her up a few inches, before slamming her back down into the street. Cracks formed around the two, chunks of tarmac coming loose. And still, Natalie tried to pry Fear's hands off.

But Fear didn't expect her sudden releasing one hand and clawed at his face, catching his eye, and a couple of the spines across his left cheek. He shouted, quickly bringing one hand down on her helmet. The force sent it striking the ground again, a noticeable crack forming down her visor.

"You don't know when to give up, do you Human?" He snarled, his fingers starting to dig into the skin under the armour.

He surely would have pierced the armour eventually, and broken through the skin and neck armour if a red blur hadn't bashed into his side, sending him hurtling through the air and into the side of a building. Smashed bricks littered the other sidewalk, and Fear was nowhere to be seen.

Only when she saw a silver, black and red coloured glove was offered to her, did she noticed that Isaac was standing over her. Her breath still a bit heavy, she pushed herself onto her elbows and took his hand. Together, they managed to pull Natalie up to her feet.

" _You OK?"_ Isaac asked, patting her shoulder and standing at her side briefly.

" _I've been better,"_ Natalie replied, rubbing her neck slowly. _"Thought humans were the only ones that had choking fetishes."_

Despite the helmet, Natalie could tell Isaac was giving her a strange look, but she merely chuckled in response, though ended up coughing a few times afterwards.

But they were both brought out of their little chat when the sound of groaning metal caught their attention. They both turned to their right, and Natalie quickly pushed Isaac away and threw herself back. The two barely missed a flying pickup truck as it sailed past them, its front smashing into the ground and flipping over multiple times. It finally came to a stop when it smashed into more cars further down the road.

Isaac quickly picked himself up, and barely drew his two-handed blade before Fear was upon him. Sparks showering down onto his forearms when the swords struck one another, grinding a short distance.

" _Miss me, Fucker?"_ Isaac asked, tensing his arms and began pushing himself up off of his knees, getting one foot under him, and gradually got the other one under him as well. Upon reaching his full height, he and Fear glared at one another; the latter of which had his teeth bared, his black eyes narrowed.

Fear quickly turned when he heard slight movement to his other side, and quickly pulled one hand away from his sword handle, drew another blade from his back and blocked a side attack from Natalie, the blade wedging itself in the ground, the white, curved blade striking at knee-level. Natalie glared up when Fear looked at her, flexing his fingers around both handles.

"Rather interesting predicament we have here."

All three beings, both Warrior and Demon, looked down the street.

There, standing in the middle of the street, not too far from the wrecked car Fear threw moments earlier, was a trench-coat wearing human, one hand in his pocket and the other holding a suitcase. But his scent was what caught Natalie's attention.

" _He's the one that stinks of that Black SVU; he was at Pax with that Wolkein,"_ She said, briefly glancing at Isaac.

Fear snarled lowly, pushing both of the Warriors away from him, and spun the blades in his hand and sheathed the shorter of the two. Natalie and Isaac quickly righted themselves, and went to strike Fear again, now he was seemingly distracted by the human, but they paused when they picked up weapons getting cocked and primed.

Looking behind them, several armed, weapons drawn D-13 soldiers were standing in a line, filling up the width of the street and slowly moving towards them, stopping before they got too close.

" _What the fuck are you doing?"_ Isaac hissed, turning back to look at the trench-coat wearing human. _"Get out of here."_

"That isn't going to happen. Now why don't you tell me which one of you or your friend, Natalie, has what we're after."

Both Warriors suddenly tensed up, briefly looking at one another. Though faint, Isaac could hear the quickened breathing from Natalie. Both looked back to E, who was simply standing there, like he was just waiting for his bus to arrive. _"We don't know what you're talking about,"_ Isaac responded, flexing his fingers around the holes in his blade.

"Oh, I'm sure that you do," E responded, before raising his empty hand from his pocket, and gestured for the D-13 soldiers to stand back.

"Nat.. alie…" Fear said slowly, slowly looking to the White Warrior, slowly rolling the blade's handle around in his hand.

"Come now, there's no need to argue. All I want is the Crystal."

* * *

Meanwhile, in the large Red Alpha Zord that stood stationary in the ocean, there was slight movement visible. The large eyes were starting to flash slightly, its head moving ever so slightly, like it was slowly tilting his head. Before sudden its head shook rapidly, like a wet dog after a shower.

Inside the cockpit, only vibrating slightly despite the rapid shaking from the outside, the podium where the Silver Crystal was resting upon was starting to groan and buckle gently.

Though against the faint white, and bright silver light produced by the crystal, a far brighter blue glow was visible against the white.

" _ **Everything happens.. for a reason…"**_ A distorted voice said, seemingly to no-one, as a glowing blue hand slowly reached for the crystal, and curled it up slightly to create a flicking motion. The flicking finger knocked into the crystal, sending it flying forward but suddenly, in an unnatural manner, turned upwards and shot through the top of the Zord's head.

A brief flash of silver light came from the top of the Zord's head, and shot through the air. A bright silver light streaking through the air, and barrelling towards the city, right to where the two closest Warriors were located.

* * *

Isaac lifted his head slightly when he heard a faint screeching noise, and was alarmed to find a silver streak stretching across the sky with an unnaturally moving, sudden swerve, and coming straight towards them.

" _Shit,"_ He said aloud, taking a slight step back. This caught the attention of all of the others present, Demon and humans included, who all turned to look at whatever seemed to spook the Red Ranger.

" _Is that... Shit,"_ Natalie said, quickly looking around and suddenly rushed towards a car. The movement caught the D-13 soldiers' attention. One went to pull the trigger.

"Don't shoot!" E shouted, gesturing for the soldier to stand down.

" _Natalie, don't!"_ Isaac shouted, but was sudden thrown back by Fear. He was sent flying into another car, its door falling off its hinges with him falling onto the ground afterward.

Fear looked up just as Natalie had pushed herself off of the roof of another car, and jumped into the air just as the streak of sliver light reached them. One hand reached up, and grabbed onto the small crystal.

But just as her fingers started wrapping around the crystal, a sudden surge of silver light escaped her closed palm and around the area. She ended up falling to the ground, silver energy sparking all around her.

Fear, the closest creature to the White Warrior at the current moment, tried to get closer to her and grab the damn crystal that this was all about, but he barely got a step closer before a hand grabbed his shoulder.

He went to turn and throw a punch with turn of his body, but another hand grabbed a hold of his fist as it was thrown at them. His eyes darted to the owner of the hand, and was mildly surprised.

"You abandon the Master, you abandon hope of a victory," Batibat hissed, grabbing his shoulder with her other hand and throwing him aside. The male Demon rolled across the road a few times, before landing on his feet and grinding to a kneeling halt.

"Men, pull back. Pull back!" E shouted into his radio, his gloved hand quickly coming across his face to cover his eyes when the light started sparking.

Batibat turned to the source of the silver light, her eyes narrowed and the pupils themselves turning into thinner slits, and tried to get closer to the shouting White Warrior. But Isaac rushed forward in a red blur, tackling and throwing the she-Demon aside.

" _Natalie!"_ He shouted, quickly moving forward and tackled Natalie, luckily, the force from the tackle caused her to let go of the silver crystal. The two tumbled over each other for a number of rolls, a mix of red and white before coming to a stop.

Isaac quickly scrambled towards Natalie, from the position he had landed in, and quickly rolled Natalie over from her side onto her back. He brought both hands to either side of her helmet, facing her up, and shook her head slightly. _"Nat, Nat? C'mon, talk to me,"_ He urged, leaning over her slightly.

A faint groan came from her, and he eventually got a response. _"You're going to make me throw up if you're not careful."_

A faint chuckle came from Isaac, before he became aware of the number of pairs of feet in his peripheral vision. He glanced up, and his shoulders sagged slightly when he saw the several barrel ends trained on the pair of them.

" _You guys would be pretty good cock-blockers,"_ Natalie commented, pulling herself up onto her elbows and sitting up properly. Isaac moved back and the two got to their feet, the rifle ends still trained on the pair of them.

Isaac glanced back, and with the silver Crystal still glowing dimly in the middle of the street, he saw the two Demons Warlords were recovering from their attacks. _"We're wasting time,"_ He said, gesturing for Natalie to follow him as they both rushed to gather the crystal before either of the Demons.

The soldiers when to aim at the Rangers, but one soldier glanced at the others and shook his head, lowering his weapon slightly, before lowering it completely.

Batibat went to run to the crystal, but was shoulder barged, first by Fear, then by Isaac as they came running in the other direction. Natalie hung back to block an attack from Batibat, leaving Isaac to stop Fear from reaching it.

He barely succeeded, grabbing Fear's wrist as it went to grab the crystal, using the momentum he carried to roll over Fear's back. Landing on his feet, he used both the strength and momentum of the suits enhancements, threw Fear down the street. But Fear must have grabbed into the crystal slightly, since it went flying up into the air, twirling around rapidly.

Isaac watched it, but in doing so, didn't see that Fear had recovered and threw several of his facial spines at the Red Warrior. He managed to catch them in his forearm, and quickly discarded them, no feeling anything from their impact, thanks to the _Instinct._

He quickly brought his own blade out, and the two began striking swords against one another, sparks flying, as they tried to gain the advance over the other warrior.

Natalie and Batibat did the same, pushing one another back with strikes of the blades. In a brief moment of freedom after pushing Natalie back, Batibat quickly drew a dagger from one of her sleeves and threw it through the air. The tip of the blade struck the side of the Silver Crystal, sending it hurtling through the air.

As the two pairs fought one another, the Crystal come to rest on the ground and rolled further down the street. When it eventually came to a stop, it stopped right beside a polished shoe.

E quickly crouched down before the Crystal, and set the suitcase down, unclasping the latches and opening it up, before turning to look at the crystal before him. Briefly making sure that the glove on his other hand was on properly, he reached for the crystal.

His fingers flexed carefully before grabbing onto the crystal with his fingertips. Before he could give it a chance to start sparking up once again, he firmly placed it into the specially moulded foam interior and closed the case.

"Soldiers, open fire. Repeat, open fire!" E said, closing the suitcase and quickly departing from the area. Moving behind several cars and rushing along the pavement, as the soldiers began opening rounds and rounds of fire onto the group of fire Warriors and Demons.

Isaac dodged another attack from Fear, before noticing the lack of a glowing crystal sitting in the middle of the road. He looked around rapidly, the bullets deflecting off of him as if they were nothing, mushrooming and scattering at his feet.

He also noticed that E wasn't standing at the opposite end to the soldiers; he caught a glimpse of his trench coat down the end of the street, and his deep metallic-tinted scent confirmed this.

" _Nat, the Agent Guy's trying to get away with the Silver Crystal. You good here?"_ Isaac asked into his Howler, since the two pairs had spread out now with their fighting.

" _Go! Stop him! God knows Savage'll be pissed if we don't get that,"_ Natalie's voice replied, and Isaac did a quick glance over to where she was. She did seem to be holding her own against Batibat, daggers and blades striking one another.

Blissfully unaware of the soldiers who tried to inflict damage onto them.

Shaking his head briefly, Isaac quickly rushed off, tearing up the already cracked road, sending chunks flying into buildings. Fear recovered from Isaac's last attack, and watched as he tore down the road. With a brief growl, Fear sheathed his sword across his back and rushed after Isaac in a blur of shadows.

E quickly ran down the street, pulling his radio out and said, "Units 13, 2 and 7. Have the package, going to need a pick up. Rendezvous point to be confirmed."

" _Understood, sir. Reinforcements ready on your word."_

E nodded, knowing full well that they couldn't see it on the other end of the radio, and quickly clipped it back onto his belt. He quickly glanced over his shoulder, but when he turned back around, he quickly stumbled to a stop.

" _I think you have something that belongs to me."_

The Red Ranger stood about fifty feet down the street, torn up concrete and tarmac littered the length of the road, and stopped just where he was standing.

Straightening his posture, E simply stood there, flexing his fingers slowly around the handle of the suitcase at his side, pulling his other hand out from his pocket. "I never did get your identity, you know," E said, slowly taking steps closer to the Red Ranger.

The Ranger's head tilted to one side slightly, silent, as he too began taking steps towards E, the resulting gap between them quickly growing smaller, and smaller.

"We've got a face, but nothing on US records about you. You're not from around the States, are you?" E asked, not expecting a response from the Ranger. Even if he got a response, he didn't expect to fully understand it.

Just as he suspected, no answer came right away, and before he knew it, the two of them were standing toe-to-toe. Though it was only slight, E found he was taller than this Ranger. He expected as such, given what they could find out from several images.

" _Does it matter where I'm from? We're saving your asses from something you couldn't possible understand,"_ The Red Ranger said eventually. Again, just as he expected, the mechanically altered voice made it hard to understand some words, but he got the main points.

A short, dry laugh came from E, before he shook his head. "You really don't understand anything, do you? You're not the first group of Rangers, and I'm damn sure you're not going to be the last group. But if it weren't for these groups, though, we would have developed these." He raised his free hand, rolling it around slowly and flexing his fingers in the thick, grey glove.

" _I didn't ask for a lecture,"_ The Red Ranger said, screwing one hand into a fist and drawing his blade with his other hand. _"I asked for what is ours."_

"Impatient, hmm?" E asked, smirking dryly, but lowered his hand and looked up to the Ranger. He noted the blade resting against the ground, but didn't seem fazed by the threatening gesture.

" _Give it to me,"_ The Ranger said, taking another step closer. His helmet barely a few inches from E's face. _"Now."_

But then, a flash of black struck the Red Ranger, the two colours getting sent flying into a building along the side of the road. Bricks and dust was sent flying, and E quickly tried moving further down the street to get away from the dust cloud.

The same blur of black, however, suddenly flew back in front of E before he had even reached the upturned sidewalk. "I believe you have something of interest to me," The Demonic creature said, its bronze armour reflecting the sunlight.

"Why do you sound so much like that Ranger?" E asked, rolling his eyes briefly.

A low growl came from the Demon, revealing rows of sharp, jagged teeth. "Do not compare me to such Warriors. They are beneath me," He growled, taking a step closer to the human. He reached behind him with one hand, drawing the sword out of its sheath slightly.

"'Warriors', huh?" E asked, taking a small step back.

He suddenly became aware of the Red Ranger, when he came flying from the side of the building he had been thrown into, and tackled the Demon against the road, kicking up larger chunks of tarmac, and sending it across the street. Once again, E tried for an escape, but only got a few steps before something struck the suitcase.

Seeing it go flying from his hand, E quickly dropped to the ground and looked to the case, a small dagger stuck out from one of the flat sides. Drawing a small pistol from its holster under his jacket, he quickly moved in to recover the suit case.

A sudden force grabbed him and flung him across the ground, sending him further along than the suitcase. When he managed to pick himself up, his knees and hands scuffed with a mixture of mud and a bit of blood, he saw the Red Ranger was kneeling before the suitcase and was working to unclasp the latches.

Pulling himself to one knee, E gripped the pistol with both hands and fired two shots at the Ranger. But they bounced off of the Ranger's suit, and lay scattered across the ground around him. Unflinching, the Red Ranger forced open the clasps, the sheer strength from the suit of armour crushing the locks.

The Demon suddenly re-appeared and attacked the Ranger, throwing the Red Ranger aside. The Ranger got to his feet, and the two began exchanging blows, some landing, some getting blocked and trying to throw the other off and get to the suit case.

Holstering his pistol once again, E quickly got to his feet and moved in towards the suitcase. Luckily, the side of the case hadn't come off and still looked relatively sealed; the latches were broken completely, allowing E to open up the case. Thankfully, the crystal still sat there, embedded in the foam.

Out of the corner of his visor, while he was currently trying to keep Fear's clawed hands from getting to his helmet, Isaac saw the suitcase was open, with the agent kneeling before it. Grabbing Fear by the throat and by one forearm, Isaac brought one knee to the Demon's stomach and threw him to one side. He quickly turned and ran to the suitcase, a short red blur stretching across the side of the street.

A massive streak of silver light suddenly enveloped him, stopping him in his tracks and sending him flying backward. Fear got caught up in the silver light as well, and raised one of his forearms to block the light from his eyes, getting to his feet, but an unseen force sent both him and Isaac backwards. They only coming to a stop when a building blocked their path.

The strength of the force pressed them against the building, before eventually dying down and the light vanished entirely. When it vanished, Isaac fell onto his hands and knees, groaning at the light started to fade. He briefly glanced to the side, and found Fear had vanished, a brief moment of hope that he had burned up in the bright light.

But he knew better.

He then looked ahead, and his eyes widened under his cracked visor at what he saw.

Kneeling on one knee, arms outstretched before him, E was facing them, the Silver Crystal firmly clasped in his gloved hand, the other hand gripping the gloved ones wrist.

With Isaac still stuck on the ground, simply watching, as E quickly replaced the crystal in the suitcase. And at that moment, a Black SUV suddenly squealed around the corner, coming to a sliding stop on the road beside E. The side door quickly slid open, a couple of D-13 soldiers jumping out as E quickly approached, aiming their rifles at Isaac as the Red Ranger slowly rose to his feet.

But he just watched. Watched as E entered the SUV, and with its tires squealing, it rushed off down the street. The only thing that would lead to it were the tire marks in the road. The rubber still smelling fresh.

Leaning back slightly against the nearest building, Isaac raised his Howler to his helmet and said, _"Savage.. you know how you said humans can't actually wield the Crystals by themselves… I think we may have a slight problem."_

* * *

"You lost the Silver Crystal?"

"You think I didn't try and get it? That fucker Fear and Batibat screwed up the chance; didn't help with the fact that, somehow, you were wrong with the Crystal not working with just Humans," Isaac exclaimed, helmet to one side, as he explained himself to Savage.

The others lay scattered across the main Den room, Natalie with MUTT as the robot assessed some of the injures she had gained. Most were superficial, just small cuts across her face, and a black eye forming around her right eye. Isaac had already been seen to, just a single black eye, and a longer cut down the side of his neck.

"It is impossible," Savage said, arms folded as he leaned against a desk, watching as Isaac paced back and forth slightly as he explained his actions. "Humans would never be able to wield the power in those Crystals by themselves. He must have used something; the strange technology you five have, who knows what your 'Governments' have?"

"Just don't believe everything you see about the Government online, some conspiracy nutjobs will believe everything," Kyle said, bringing his feet up to rest on one of the desks.

"He had this.. weird glove on one hand. Looked grey, all sort of fancy-looking accessories. It looked like he'd gotten a Make-Up Barbie and put all the sparkly shit on the glove," Isaac said.

"…Maybe, it was something from another Ranger group," Natalie said, getting looks from both Savage and Isaac. "Think about it. What, twenty years of different Ranger groups? Give or take a year. You don't think, out of all of them, there was one or two groups that had spare parts lying around?"

"There was that group, what was it? Lightspeed.. something or other," Matt said.

" _Lightspeed Rescue, based in Mariner Bay. Government-funded operation to defeat a Demonic threat, Queen Bansheera."_

"Bansheera?" Savage asked, looking aside briefly at MUTT. "I was told stories of a Queen Bansheera when I was a cub."

"Anyway," Natalie cut in, trying to bring things back on track before they got too far away from their original path. "Is it so hard to believe that they took some of the leftover shit from them?"

"I doubt they would be able to use one groups stuff with this shit. Not all Demons are going to be the same, are they?" Tanya asked.

"That is not the point. The matter at hand is, that we need to find this Silver Crystal before the humans try to find something that would go very, very wrong," Savage said. "Would there be a specific place they would take the Crystal?"

"There's way too many places to even begin listing off. Hell, we probably don't even know where half of them are located," Kyle pointed out.

"Look. We'll get back to this Silver Crystal at some point. MUTT can scan our Crystals something-or-other, and use them as bases to keep track of where it might be," Tanya suggested. "In the meantime, let's focus on the reason why you dragged us into this shithole for." She gestured to Savage with a thumb.

"Those Demons are acting up; Fear isn't working for Horror anymore, he's going Rogue. And Batibat.. I don't know what's going on with that bitch, all this hissing and daggers and shit," Natalie said, slowly getting to her feet as MUTT finished with her injuries, wiping a few strands of hair behind her ear.

"We need to keep an eye on Fear; he was a sly Demon when he was under Horror. Zeta only knows what will happen with him, now that he's going Rogue," Savage said. He looked around at the teens throughout the room, and said, "May as well let you five go... Nothing more that can be done until we get that Crystal. Go.. do whatever teens do."

"Can't really get ready for school. We'll get in the shit if we even show our faces there. Hell, I've got a dozen or so calls from the school on my house's phone," Isaac said, but slowly began walking away from the place he had been standing in for the past half an hour.

The other teens got up from where they'd been keeping themselves, and Kyle gave a slight nod to MUTT. The robot took the command and teleported the five teens away, leaving Savage and MUTT as the only remaining beings in the Den.

"Damn it," Savage growled under his breath, shaking his head as he brought a closed fist down forcefully on the nearest empty desk, smashing right through the metal, the legs warping and the remains falling to the floor.

* * *

"You actually managed to get the Crystal off of the Rangers?"

E glanced up, over the shoulder of the medic that gave him the once over, at Clint, the soldier leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed. "You make it sound like I had to fight tooth and nail to get it. Just needed to get them distracted with something. Luckily, we had those Demons turn up."

"We have anything on their origin yet?" Clint asked, as the medic finished up and began putting his stuff away into the medic bag. E slowly moved to the side of the room, and Clint stepped aside to let the medic leave.

"We're still consulting the Lightspeed files to see if there's any correlation between their Demons and these ones," E said, grabbing his jacket and slipping his arms through the sleeves. "They set up the examination chamber?"

"They're just about to finish," Clint informed, gesturing for E to follow him as he headed out of the medical room. E followed after him, and the two soon entered the larger hangar down the corridor. They passed several units of D-13 soldiers moving around together; hands holding the weapons, fingers off their triggers.

"Here we are," Clint eventually informed, coming to a stop and gesturing the centre of the hangar. E was about to question why they weren't going to get any closer, when he spotted the warning tape lining the floor just at their toes. He looked around, and saw a large circle forming around the floor of the hangar; that would explain why the soldiers were avoiding a curtain area.

"Any particular reason why its out in the middle of the hangar, and not in a sealed room?" E asked, hands slipping into his pockets as he looked across the room. In the middle of the taped-off area, with two guys in silver hazmat suits, carefully setting the suitcase down before a large, glass and steel container. Their movements slow and careful, the suitcase lit was lifted.

Instantly, the silver light shone brightly from the cracks in the suitcase, the one-way viewing plastic of the hazmat suits' design, yet the two still reeled back at the brightness. Several of the soldiers around the cornered off area either were drawn to the light, or turned away from the sheer brightness.

Even E squinted slightly at the brightness, and Clint raised a hand to block the light.

With a pair of addition, padded gloves, one of the hazmat scientists carefully picked the Crystal up from the foam padding, and the other raised the glass shield from the small, metal podium inside, and both quickly pulled away when it was in place.

"Maybe because the lab got fucked up with the weapons we were testing? And what was with the order to grab the asteroid parts?" Clint asked, guiding E away from the Crystal. Though his eyes did linger briefly, E turned and followed after Clint.

"I've got something in mind; a theory. And if it's correct, we may have an advantage over the Rangers."

"Whatever you say, E," Clint replied, rolling his eyes briefly. He knew nearly nothing about what went on in E's head, and frankly, he figured out a while ago that he didn't want to know.

"Find anything else useful in the files?" E asked as they entered a corridor, the swinging double doors shutting behind her.

"Well, when you mention that…" Clint started, stopping and turning to enter a darkened room. E stumbled momentarily, and quickly followed him inside. Instantly, the light sensors caught their presence, and the lights flickered on.

And for the first time, E saw the full scale of how much paper files were recorded by Lightspeed.

Several large tables had several stacks of paper, at least two feet high by themselves, and several stacks were stacked on top of others as well. Some to the opposite end were scattered across the otherwise barren table, with a chair beside the point where the papers were most scattered.

"We found something that could be of some use," Clint added, moving around the tables to the scattered papers, moving and sieving through several scattered papers. E walked around the other side, standing back from the barely contained chaos.

"Here it is."

E looked over as Clint pulled a small collection of papers and threw them over to him, catching them mid-air, and looked over the front few pages. "The Titanium Morpher schematics?" He asked, glancing up to Clint. "Fairweather told me that was kept strictly off the records."

"Guess she must have.. slipped them in," Clint responded with a shrug, arms folded, though E knew Clint better. That look on his face.. it was the one he pulled when he did something he _knew_ he shouldn't have done.

But that wasn't important right now.

"Get these to the right department, might help with any problems they might be having with the development," E said, handing the schematics back to the Clint and gestured for him to get going. The soldier quickly nodded, leaving through the same door they entered through.

Leaving him by himself in the room, E slowly moved around the table and took one of the seats, sitting down as he looked at the papers. He brought his chin to rest on his hands, and sat there in his own silence.

"The Red Ranger may prove to be difficult.. the others, we have leverage.. nothing on him though.. just a face," He said to himself, after a few minutes of silent thinking. He eventually got up again, and pushed the chair in slowly. "Should find out more.. need to..."

* * *

"Master…" Batibat whispered lowly, stumbling through a portal that closed behind her. Her clothes were a bit torn and tattered, it just seemed like it was aesthetic damage. Not a single cut was visible across her pale skin, what of it was visible. One of her hands firmly clenched around something, while the other slotted a dagger in its holster beneath her jacket.

The crystal on the podium started glowing slightly, and a deep growl sounded as the cracks began to glow a dark red. _**"What do you bring, Batibat? The Crystal?"**_

"Fear prevented me from securing it from the humans and the Warriors," Batibat said, grinding her teeth together shortly as she approached the podium. Though as she did so, a glowing light became apparent between the fingers of her clenched hand. "But I didn't get away empty-handed, Master."

" _ **An essence of the Crystal,"**_ Horror's voice growled, the glowing along the caged crystal starting to grow brighter, more cracks starting to form, resulting in darker grooves.

Batibat nodded slowly, unclasping her fingers and opening her hand out, revealing a small, floating orb of silver light, pulsing faintly as it levitated gently in her palm. But it was quickly removed, and began floating away from Batibat and towards the podium with the caged crystal.

With a rumbling grunt, the caged crystal slowly rose up from the podium. cracks starting to form on the podium, and running down to spread across the ground around it. The crystal rattled against the metal cage surrounding it, red energy transmitting from the crystal's cracks to the rusty metal.

Batibat watched as the metal pendant started warping, and eventually snapped clean in half when the black-and-red crystal broke out, letting it fall onto the cold stone. The now bare black, red-glowing crystal was level with the glowing silver ball, the two swirling around one another.

" _ **Finally."**_

Slowly, the two orbs merged into one, feeding into each other until there was a single floating orb in the darkness of the Realm. The orb had traits of both orbs; the dark red cracks all over the orb, with a faint glowing of silver starting to bleed through, only dimmer.

Moments passed, and large sections of the growing orb started to break off, falling off like dry skin, landing and piling up on the ground. The essence from the two combined orbs started to leak from the cracks, slowly expanding around the area. Batibat took a small step back, dropping to one knee and cast her eyes downward.

Almost like water getting fed into an already cast shape, the energy fed outward and took a loose form, starting from what looked like blood vessels across the body, and filling out from there. And at its centre, where the heart would be in a human, was the vague outline to the original orb.

Once one of blood vessels of the hand had fully formed, it slowly raised up and clenched into a fist, as strands of energy and fabric started to reach across the width of the newly forming body. _**"So many years.. so little time left.. the Pillars must be activated soon."**_

"Master, you still require time to recover, until you are fully formed again, I'd highly advice you wait," Batibat suggested, her voice quiet, as to not offend or risk angering her Master.

A brief grunt came from the still-forming body of energy, as it raised its other hand, the vague outline of a hooded head looking between the two hands. The fingers flexed briefly, and from these movements, blood-red claws shot from the finger tips, thin and sharp. Gleaming in the faint light produced by the still-exposed orb.

" _ **They will remember... They will remember why they fear the Dark."**_

* * *

 **Here you go, Episode 12! I won't pin down a current release date just yet, for Episode 13, but hopefully, by the end of the month.**

 **Nf991 signing out.**


	14. Episode 13 - A Lone Howl

Episode 13 – A Lone Howl

"How much shit do you reckon we're going to be in?"

"A shit-tonne?" Isaac responded under his breath, glancing aside at Natalie. The questioner glared back at the British teen, but she quickly looked away after a brief glare exchange.

The pair of them, along with Matthew on Natalie's other side, entered the high school for the first time in a couple of weeks. It was a surreal experience, being back within these walls after so long away. Hell, Isaac was surprised that they didn't get caught up with that upon entering the grounds.

Or getting on the bus, for that matter.

"What for? Not turning up, or the fact we look like we're part of a secret fight club?" Matthew quietly added in a low grunt.

Isaac glanced to other teen, before taking his phone from his pocket and flicking the lock off, opening up the camera App in the selfie position.

This allowed him to see his face - a number of faded and fresh scars across it. A few standouts were a faded one that cut through the edge of his right eyebrow, and the faintest traces of a black eye still present across his right eyelid.

But by his reckoning, the others were just as bad; Matthew looked as though he was dragged through a barbwire fence backwards, and Natalie had a black eye over her right eye, and a relatively fresh cut was visible on her bottom lip.

Their appearances did draw the attention of a few students as the three passed, whose faint whispering could be heard.

"Times like this I fucking hate these things," Natalie whispered under her breath, shaking her head slightly, a faint ringing in her ears from all the chatter. Matthew merely grunted quietly, hands stuffing themselves deeper into his pockets.

Isaac faintly hearing the volume button of his phone getting pressed repeatedly.

Suddenly, a high-pitch screech caught their attention, momentarily stunning the three of them, Isaac and Natalie more so than Matthew, but the three were all affected regardless.

When the screeching ended, they heard the reason behind the sound; a PA system. _"This is a student announcement; would Isaac Bryant, Matthew Hardy and Natalie Franklin report to the Principal's Office. That's Mr. Bryant, Mr. Hardy, and Ms. Franklin to the Principal's Office."_

By the time the voiceover ended, Isaac glanced either side of him, to both Matthew and Natalie. Both wore expressions hard to read, but Isaac had grown to know them better than they would have liked.

"Bit of a coincidence, don't you think?" Isaac uttered as he began walking through the corridor, the other two followed after him.

"Think he knows?" Natalie asked, slowing down when she was level with Isaac.

"Either he does, or the police do. We're in the shit, regardless," Matthew replied, coming level with the other two as they moved down the corridor, heading towards the Principal's Office. Several others looked across at the three, but not a word was spoken to them.

"Well.. what's new then?" Isaac asked, the slightest twitch of a smirk visible momentarily. It vanished as quickly as it appeared, and the three silently walked into the Principal's Office.

* * *

"Running late today, Kyle?"

Kyle rolled his eyes briefly, merely rubbing what sleep remained in his eyes away as he walked through the back door of the fast-food place. The other person, a red-headed female, walked in after him. "Jesus, you look like shit," The girl, Beth, commented.

Kyle side glanced at her, before he entered the employee break room and glanced to the side. His eyes landed on a small mirror someone has put up a while back, and he saw what Beth meant.

Several cuts were still visible across his neck and face, along with a large bruise forming under one of his eyes. Those Wolkeins weren't messing around last night…

"Eh, some fucker thought he'd try and mug me. Trust me, he got it worse," Kyle grunted, setting his bag down on a free chair, and slouched down onto one next to it.

"Did you go to the police about it?" Beth asked, putting her bag into one of the beat-up lockers and taking a seat opposite Kyle.

"Eh, they've got their plates full at the moment. Those Power Ranger fuckers, huh?" Kyle replied, seemingly relaxing against the chair. But on the inside, it was an entirely different story. _Why the fuck did I mention the Rangers?!_ He internally screamed to himself, yet his external expression remained calm and inexpressive.

Thankfully, Beth didn't seem to pick up on any sort of nervousness from Kyle, as she got up and began making herself a coffee. "Still, they've got to have _some_ people free for standard calls?" She asked, the water boiling audibly.

"You'd think that," Kyle grunted, slowly pulling himself to his feet and walked around the break room, his hands shifting in and out of his pocket. Trying to keep the hoodie on for as long as possible, he never realized how much he hated short-sleeved shirts until he realized the Howler wouldn't budge.

Another door opened, and both Kyle and Beth turned to see another guy walk through, already in the bright blue shirt - the uniform of the place - and looked in his early 20s. "Hey, uh, is Kyle in yet?" He asked.

"Why'd you ask, Greg? You look spooked," Beth asked, before a small smirk crossed her face. "You got caught with drugs again?"

"I'm clean, Beth," Greg responded gruffly.

"What's up?" Kyle asked, stepping towards Greg.

"There's some cops out front asking for you."

Kyle visibly tensed up at this, and it didn't go unnoticed.

"What'd _you_ have to do to get the cops on your ass, Kyle?" Beth asked.

"Whatever it was, I didn't do it," Kyle muttered quietly, and slowly moved past Greg. "If shit starts going down, don't try and do some crazy shit."

"Can't promise that, but remember the important shit. 'It wasn't mine', and whatever else comes to mind," Greg said, while Beth tried to suppress a slight smile.

Kyle merely rolled his eyes with a slight grunt, and walked through the door. His breath catching in his throat when he caught sight of the cruisers through the glass, and a pair of officers standing at the counter. _Shit,_ He thought to himself.

* * *

"Shit," Natalie muttered under her breath, as she filed into the Principal's Office after Isaac and Matthew. Her stomach suddenly grew sick, and felt as though she might have been sick. She was sure that the other two were feeling the same way, to some degree.

They had entered the Office, but Isaac pointed out something just before they entered - a strange, coppery smell was apparent, and that turned out to be a pair of police officers, standing at the back of the office, while the Principle himself was sitting at the desk, filling in a few pieces of paper.

Setting his pen down upon the door opening, he said, "Ah, you three. Sit down." The tone of his voice made both Natalie and Matthew know instantly, that they weren't brought here to get a pat on the back.

While Isaac eyed up the officers as they entered the room, the three entered and Matthew closed the door behind them, and each took a free seat opposite the desk.

"I believe you three have a pretty good idea as to why I've had you come here," The Principal asked, slowly closing his hands together as he switched between the three teens. All three seemed to avoid looking the Principal in the eye, looking anywhere but him and the officers standing behind them.

Exhaling sharply, the Principal removed his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose slowly, before he said, "Fine. Since none of you are going to speak up, let me tell you why I've brought you here."

"Your attendance records make it seem as though you've been here without a single day off, yet I've heard from several of the teachers, _your_ teachers, that you have failed to turn up for a single lesson in the past six weeks."

"Care to give me an explanation?" he asked, looking between the three sharply.

"Any.. reason for the officers here?" Isaac eventually asked, his tone dry, as he gestured to the two officers behind the three teens. The other two spared glances at Isaac, while the Principal merely rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"Officers Frank and Davidson are here because we have reasons to suspect you, or someone you are associated with, have hacked into our computer systems. This carries quiet a heavy punishment, which is bad for people in your stage in life," The Principal informed, glaring briefly at Isaac solely.

Isaac was the first to break the eye contact, and he heard Natalie talking, possibly trying to talk their way out of it, but he wasn't paying attention to the conversation.

What he was focusing on, were the officers.

Turning his head slightly, Isaac exhaled slowly and tried listening; hoping some of Savage's training would actually pay off…

Then, he heard it.

 _Lub-DUB. Lub-DUB. Lub-DUB._

' _Heartbeat…but only one…'_ Isaac thought to himself, his eyes briefly glancing to the side. Briefly seeing the uniforms of the officers, but the faint heartbeat sound was fading in and out. Clenching his hand briefly under the desk, Isaac tried to focus on which officer wasn't giving off a heartbeat.

Or maybe his hearing was off.

"Now…" The Principal's voice broke through his head, causing him to open his eyes again and focus on the man opposite the desk. "Do you admit to these claims?"

"Hmm?" Isaac piped up, looking across at the Principal, and back to the officers. He then shifted to look at the two sitting either side of him. Natalie could have sworn she saw a small smirk cross his face momentarily. "Oh yeah, yeah. They're from us," Isaac said.

Both Matthew and Natalie looked sharply to Isaac, while the officers behind them seemed to straighten up against the wall. Isaac turned his head slightly, listening carefully again.

One heartbeat steadily grew faster, yet one was still missing…

Exhaling slowly, the Principal slowly sank back into his chair and rose to his feet. Straightening his shirt momentarily, he turned to face the Officers and said, "I'll.. leave them to you." With that, he carefully moved out from behind his desk and headed through the door, closing it slowly behind him.

With the Principal gone, one of the officer stepped forward, and began talking, reading the teens the rights he had said to others, potentially hundreds of time before.

"You have the right to remain silent. Everything you say can and will be held against you in the court of law. You have the right to speak to an atto-"

He was cut off as he was slowly getting the teens to stand up, and tried to get Isaac's arms behind his back so he could get his wrists handcuffed. But at that moment, Isaac glanced to Matthew briefly and nodded.

Slamming his head back, he felt it connect with the officer's nose and surely break it. The force sent the officer stumbling back, fumbling for his sidearm, while Isaac fell forward against the desk, seeing stars from forcefulness of his strike.

The officer pulled his gun out at long last, but before he could take aim, Matthew shoulder-barged him, sending the gun flying against the wall. The officer went to retaliate, but a blinding flash of white light blinded him momentarily. And the next thing he knew, a white, silver and black armoured hand was wrapped around his throat, connecting to the arm of the White Omega Warrior. All he saw was his own reflection in the tinted visor.

" _Night-night,"_ The feminine, mechanically-altered voice said, the grip tightening around his throat momentarily. But instead of closing entirely, or worse, breaking his neck, the officer was thrown aside, slamming right into the solid wall.

"Well, if we weren't in the shit then, we're in the shit now," Matthew commented, his chest rising and falling quickly, as he calmed down. He glanced aside at Isaac and Natalie, the former pulling himself from the desk and rubbing the back of his head, before they all heard something.

Clapping. Slow, almost sarcastic, clapping, followed by a voice.

"I would almost say that was.. impressive, Warriors. Almost."

The three turned sharply to the other officer. He remained unmoved from his position against the wall, his arms folding themselves back over his chest from the claps. But his eyes.. they were what caught them off.

Cracks in the skin around both eyes, like an old sidewalk, seeping a dark green glow. The eyes themselves were slowly fading to a dark grey, like ink leaking into water.

"Fear?" Isaac asked lowly, shifting into a defensive stance. Matthew copied him, while Natalie slowly drew her curved blade.

The 'officer' scoffed lowly, pushing himself off of the wall. Though subtle, small chunks of the face skin started to fall. Revealing a darker, black tone underneath, a far cry from Fear's stone-coloured features.

"Fear is no longer.. relevant to the Master," The 'officer' said, slowly stepping closer, the teens slowly stepping back, shifting into defensive stances. Both Isaac and Matthew raised their hands slightly, ready to act on their Howler.

" _Then who are you?"_ Natalie demanded.

The 'officer' smiled, a dark, sinister smile. This created more cracks along the face and skin, causing more cracks and chunks to fall from the face, revealing a greater amount of black under-skin, with the faintest tint of red visible.

"I am Death. Plain and simple."

* * *

"Shit, shit, shit!" Kyle explained under his breath, slamming the staff only door at the back of the restaurant, and pressing himself against it. Taking deep breaths, he was made aware of the several sets of eyes that were now focused on him.

"How'd it go?" Beth asked, though Kyle couldn't tell if she was being sarcastic or serious from her tone.

"Did you give the cops the slip or something?" Greg asked, getting up from his seat.

"You guys need to get out of here, now!" Kyle exclaimed, going to his locker to grab his stuff, his hands shaking to such a degree that he struggled to get the key in the lock.

"Whoa, whoa. What fucking happened?" Greg asked.

"Those officers.. they ain't officers," Kyle responded shortly, finally wrenching his locker open and grabbed his rucksack. "They're monsters."

"Everyone sees cops differently; monsters, Pigs, the filth.. take your pick," Greg shrugged, but Kyle just walked past him with a barge to the shoulder.

"I'm being fucking seri-!" Kyle shouted, but was cut off when the staff door was slammed open, getting knocked off its hinges, and thrown half way across the room, striking Greg, and collapsing on him. His body lay motionless on the ground, as Kyle turned his attention to the being standing in the doorway.

"This is a rather strange.. place," Batibat said slowly, walking through the blasted-open doorway. Accompanying her was a Wolkein, but clad in dark red armour rather than the traditional black armour they sported.

"Shit…" Beth said slowly, taking a few small steps back from Greg's motionless body.

"Get out of here, Beth," Kyle said, his eyes firmly staying on the slowly approaching Batibat. Beth rose to her feet slowly, looking between Kyle and the strange creatures.

"Listen to your friend, human. He seems to get a bit.. _wolfish_ when others don't play well," Batibat hissed, her eyes darting from Kyle to the retreating Beth.

Giving one last look to Kyle, who merely cocked his head towards the back door, Beth made a quick run for it. Grabbing her bag on the way and rushed out the door, leaving Kyle alone with the two creatures. Kyle turned around to Batibat slowly, the two sharing a glare before he spoke at last.

"So, you know it's me?"

"It's hardly difficult, meat sack. You humans stink.. yet yours and the other Wolves' stench is much, much worse," Batibat said, a blade slowly slipping into her hand from her sleeve. Kyle took note of this, and slowly shifted into a better, more defensive stance.

At his movements, however, the armoured Wolkein growled lowly, sounding strangely gravely, as it stepped in front of Batibat slowly.

"Dispose of him," Batibat mused offhandedly, gesturing for the Wolkein to have at it.

Merely seconds after the command, the Wolkein rushed forward, Kyle barely having the time to activate his Howler and transform into his Black Delta armour before the Wolkein collided. The two were sent flying into the side of the room, smashing through tables and the desk. Slamming his fists into the creatures back repeatedly, in attempts to gain an advantage, but all Kyle did was anger the faceless creature more so.

He barely ducked his head as a punch was thrown, punching clean through the wall and out the other side. Head-butting the Wolkein, and causing small cracks to form on the perimeter of his visor, Kyle managed to get a hold of its armour and threw it back.

The creature landed on its back, slamming through another table. It tried to rise to its feet, but Kyle got to it first, stabbing through the chest armour with his curved blade, green blood squirting from the wound as it writhed, clawing at the blade rapidly, creating grooves in the aged metal. Kyle forcefully ripped the blade upward, slicing straight through the armour, and splitting the creature's head in two.

Gallons of green blood flooded from the split head, its body lying limp on the ground; the odd twitch of movement present, but otherwise, lifeless.

Breathing deep, metallic breaths, Kyle ripped the blade free, soaking both himself and the metal in the creature's blood as he stood over its body. Small splatters covered his visor, despite his attempts to wipe it clean, before being reminded of the other Demon across the room.

"Hmm.. I had hopes the New Ones would actually be of some use.. didn't happen, but I may have thought too far," Batibat mused, stroking her chin slowly as her other hand drew a small dagger from her sleeve. She began stepping closer to Kyle, who started backing up, holding the blade defensively.

"No matter. I want to feel you die myself."

" _Yeah, like that's gonna happen, bitch,"_ Kyle spat, his fingers drumming the handles.

A smug smirk tugged at the corner of Batibat's thin lips, as her other hand fell to her side; this hand too held a small dagger.

"Let us see if you are still worthy of the armour you wear," Batibat shot, but rushing forward, becoming a blur of shadows as she passed through the room.

But before her blade could strike his body, a blinding flash of black light encased Kyle. Just as Batibat's blade struck mere air. Just.. remnants of smoke, from his disappearance.

"Coward!" Batibat snarled, looking around wildly for the Black Warrior, but in the somewhat small confines of the room, there was no trace of him. Fuming, Batibat snapped her fingers and a portal appeared before her. She soon vanished through the portal, leaving a mess and dead Wolkein behind her.

* * *

Kyle stumbled into the alley, barely recovering from the teleportation; supporting himself on the wall instead of falling face first in a pile of garbage.

" _What the hell was that?"_ He asked himself quietly, rubbing the side of his helmet as he raised his Howler to his visor. " _MUTT? Got anything for me?"_ He asked, pressing a few buttons on the Howler, his heartbeat still racing from the previous encounter.

" _Kyle, you must get over to Pax Valley High School. Isaac has informed us that the three of them there have encountered a Demon,"_ MUTT's voice responded.

" _Wait, what about Tanya? Anything happening with her?"_ Kyle asked.

" _She's already headed there now. Quickly!"_

" _Alright, alright,"_ Kyle cut the comms and tried to get his bearings on where he was, in relation to the high school. " _OK,"_ He told himself, exhaling slowly, before he rushed forward, vanishing into a blur of black and silver.

* * *

The door to the Principal's office burst open, splinters of the smaller chunks scattering across the floor, while larger chunks of the door blasted into a couple of unfortunate students who were walking by at that time.

With their bodies lying lifeless under the wooden fragments, blood scattered across the floor and hallway, the Red Alpha and White Omega Rangers were sent flying out of the office, leaving dents in the lockers they collided with.

Groaning lowly, Isaac quickly reached for his blade and tried getting up again. He barely got into a defensive stance before Matthew was thrown into him. The two falling onto the floor, weapons scattered as they were made aware of the figure walking through the doorway.

Large chunks of flesh-coloured plates fell from his body, revealing the black body that lay beneath. The body was thin, with the torso looking as though someone had tried gutting the creature but given up half way through. As such, the ribcage of the creature was sticking out, and the dark skin seemed to have healed around it.

The front of the neck looked as though someone had taken a knife to it, slicing through but giving up half way. Yet dried blood stuck to the front of the neck, coating the upper half of its chest. The creature's cheeks were cut from the corners of its toothy mouth, giving off what looked like a wider, sinister grin. Its eyes were a solid, milky white, no evidence of a pupil in sight.

" _Fucking hell, someone's been reading some Creepy Pastas,"_ Isaac groaned, pushing Matthew off of him and getting to his feet with the help of Natalie.

The three Warriors quickly got into defensive stances, holding their large blades, ready to attack, as the Demon slowly walked through the doorway, it's thin, long fingers gripping the doorframe - so thin that it was a surprise that the wooden frame started to crack under its fingers.

"The Master has grown weary of your constant presence.. a thorn in his side for far too long. But, like a thorn, it is insignificant for the Master to deal with personally," Death said, his voice a distant echo to it as he spoke. When he got through the doorway, it was clear it was a solid foot taller than the host body he had taken.

" _Gotta admit.. he's a lot taller than I'd hoped,"_ Matthew muttered under his breath.

" _Doesn't matter; just means the fucker goes down that much harder,"_ Isaac said, but a sudden scream down the end of the corridor caught the group off guard.

Down either side of the corridor, students and teachers had flooded out of their class rooms to see what the sudden noise was. And several of them reacted in this way upon seeing the three Rangers fighting this strange Monster, further more so when they noticed the couple of dead students near the Rangers' feet.

" _Well, there goes any element of stealth,"_ Natalie commented dryly, glancing up and down the corridor to the mixture of students and teachers. It wasn't long before they started running, making for the emergency exits.

Someone must have accidentally, or on purpose, set off the fire alarm as they made for the exit. The blaring alarms sounding throughout the building, causing severe ringing in the Rangers' ears.

Their hands flew to either side of their helmets, Matthew dropping to one knee, as groans and grunts escaped their mouth guards.

"You call yourselves Warriors," Death spat, backhanding Matthew as he got to his feet again, sending him flying down the corridor, smashing into the ground a couple of times, leaving cracks and even a large crater in the floor by the time he stopped. "You are not worthy of an honourable death."

" _Enough talk,"_ Isaac growled, getting to his feet again with the help of his blade. _"This fucking headache is just pissing me off."_ He grabbed the other handle of the blade, and rushed forward to strike the Demon.

But the blade was stopped by a thin-fingered hand grabbed the sharpened edge with relative ease. Isaac's eyes, wide with shock, switched from his blade, which he tried to remove, to the Demon, where he tried to remove it from.

He received a punch to the side of his body as a result, losing his grip on the blade and sending him flying down the corridor. The blade clattered against the smoothed ground, creating dents in the surface.

Death turned to stalk after Isaac, but a sudden irritation to his back caught his attention.

Matthew had stabbed his blade through Death's back, embedding the end in his spine, but found that he couldn't remove it, when he tried pulling back. He glanced up when he heard movement, and was alarmed, and slightly disgusted, when he saw Death's blank eyes and torn mouth slip tear through his head.

His hands and arms slowly twisted around, with his thumbs the only thing that remained in place, and soon, Matthew found one hand wrapped around his neck and the other tearing the blade from his, now, torso.

" _Shit!"_ Matthew choked as he was thrown back, down the other end of the corridor. But when he forced himself onto his elbows, he didn't see any sign of a wound on Death's body.

Not even a scratch.

Death began advancing on Matthew, as Natalie quickly rushed over to help Isaac to his feet. Once he was on his feet, Natalie went to run and help Matt. But she paused, turning her head slightly, looking towards the nearest window.

Movement. A very metallic scent…

A faint _click._

" _Get down!"_ She called, quickly dropping to her knees and pressed herself against the wall beneath the window. Isaac quickly followed suite, and Matthew used this chance to attack Death. Driving a double kick right in the chest, sending the Demon staggering back a few steps.

Death quickly recovered and rose to his feet again, but before he could move, several of the windows shattered, several small canisters coming through and landing in the corridor.

" _Gas?"_ Isaac asked.

" _Smoke. The chemical compounds don't appear poisonous; your helmets will filter out any toxic chemicals,"_ MUTT's voice came over the comms.

" _So glad you decided to speak up, MUTT,"_ Matthew uttered under his breath, as he picked himself up onto one knee.

" _I'm informing you that your location is currently surrounded by approximately 57 individuals of the Division 13 soldiers. All appeared armed."_

" _Any more news? Perhaps.. y'know, something fucking positive?"_ Isaac asked.

" _Tanya and Kyle have been sent to your location. Unfortunately, Kyle has had a run in with Batibat. Whereas you three.. your encounter isn't on record,"_ MUTT informed.

" _I said good news, you mechanical fuck,"_ Isaac grunted, shaking his head.

" _I'd recommend switching to thermal vision,"_ MUTT's voice added, but getting cut off.

Isaac shook his head slightly, before tapping a few buttons on his Howler, and pressed his hand against the side of his visor. From the outside, his visor seemed to just turn a slight shade of blue, while internally, it was several panels folded in on themselves, giving a thermal image of his surroundings.

Natalie was to his side, whereas Matt was further down the corridor. Nothing came up for Death, just a faint outline to his being.

" _Run!"_ Isaac shouted, moving forward and helping Natalie get to her feet before rushing forward, dodging Death's blind striking, and helped Matt to his feet. With all three of them now up, Isaac lead them through the already smashed windows, shattering what glass remained and took it with them as they rolled onto the ground outside Pax High.

But when they looked up, two things immediately became apparent. One, they found themselves almost blinded by the sheer brightness of outside, combined with the thermal vision.

Second, upon resorting their visors to normal, found several armoured vehicles and armed soldiers aimed at them.

" _Shit."_

"Do not move!" One of the armed soldiers shouted, the sound of multiple weapons being primed echoing around this face of the school building.

" _I knew Americans used schools as shooting ranges occasionally, but this is a bit much,"_ Isaac commented under his breath, slowly raising to his feet, never letting his eyes leave the nearest group of soldiers in front of them. Natalie and Matthew slowly followed suite, leaving their blades where they landed.

" _Not now, Isaac,"_ Natalie snapped at the Red-clad Warrior, as a small number of the soldiers broke rank and moved towards them. The three of them had at least two rifles aimed at them from the approaching soldiers.

But just as they were able to start raising their hands, two blurs of yellow and black came charging through the groups of soldiers, sending several of the 4x4s they arrived in flipping over, glass smashing and metal denting. The soldiers who had been approaching the three had turned to look at the sudden calamity, only for each and every one of them to receive a sudden punch to the gut area, the impact of which sent them flying through any remaining windows allow the corridor.

" _Looks like you guys were having a fun time,"_ Tanya commented, quickly coming to a stop beside Isaac, while Kyle came to a stop beside Matthew. Tanya glanced at Isaac, before handing him his blade. Isaac took the blade with a slight nod, before they faced the soldiers surrounding them.

" _We should get going,"_ Kyle commented, glancing around at the forces surrounding them.

"You're not going anywhere, Warriors!"

Tanya, Kyle and Matthew turned to look back at the sudden voice, while Isaac and Natalie kept facing the soldiers. But when they saw the soldiers reaching, aiming their rifles higher and several shouts and calls to the other units caught their attention.

" _Shit,"_ Isaac said when he saw Death, towering over the Warriors, as he slowly climbed out of the window, taking a large chunk of the bricks beneath the empty window frame with him.

"Open fire!" One of the commanders shouted, and immediately, multiple safety switches were flicked off, and bullets began tearing through the air. Isaac grabbed Tanya's shoulder and pulled the pair of them to the ground, with the others quickly ducking to avoid the bombardment of bullets.

" _You do remember we're bullet proof, don't you?"_ Tanya asked Isaac, a smirk under her helmet plain as day to Isaac.

" _Uh.. yeah,"_ Isaac said after a few seconds, slowly pulling his hands from where they'd grabbed her shoulders, and returned them to grabbing the blade. Tanya merely chuckled at Isaac's flustered moment, nudging her shoulder against his briefly.

" _Let's get out this shitstorm, then I'll 'thank' you,"_ Tanya replied in a hushed whisper, before she grabbed her own blade and glanced to the others. Then looking up, seeing Death was getting pushed back slightly from the numerous bullets striking him, with a lot of them merely passing through his body without any sort of evidence of injury.

" _C'mon!"_ Isaac shouted to the others, and the other four quickly followed; the five vanishing in various-coloured blurs of colour, vanishing from sight of the soldiers. Leaving them with Death, who was trying to backhand the bullets as they came in, or tried reaching for the soldiers.

Eventually, he gave up and, with a wispy snarl, snapped his fingers and disappeared in a column of black smoke.

"Sir, targets have gone," One of the officers called out, after the bullets had finally stopped spraying.

"I'll inform command. Do a quick sweep, make sure we didn't have causalities. You find anyone injured, you know what to do," The commander of the group informed, before several smaller units broke off from the ranks and proceeded to enter the school.

Meanwhile, the commanding officer approached the back of one of the trucks, where several large, military-grade protected screens and computers were kept. Opening one such case up, the commander tapped in a few keys and stepped back. The screen slowly flickered to life, and on the opposite end of the comms, Clint's face was visible.

" _Commander Bret, do you have information on the Rangers?"_ Clint asked, his voice coming out somewhat static-y due to the weak connection.

"Sir, we.. had them, but it appears they were already in contact with one of the Unidentified Monsters," Bret responded, standing at attention.

Clint's face twitched slightly at the disappointing news, visibly grinding his teeth together momentarily. _"Never mind. You've done your job. Now it's time for the Asset to do his."_

"'Asset'?" Bret asked, raising an eyebrow.

But the comms were cut short, reducing the screen to mere static.

* * *

Clint stepped away from the computer screen he'd just been in contact with one of the Commanders, turned around and walked through the empty corridor connecting the comms room and the large hanger of the facility. The door opened smoothly as he approached, and closed swiftly after he walked through.

"So, we ready to go?" Clint asked, approaching several scientists in lab coats, googles and gloves on, working on something.

"Just need to make some final calibrations and we should be good to go," A sudden, feminine voice said. Clint was caught off guard momentarily, backtracking to look at the scientist that had spoken.

His eyes widened slightly, and he said, "Ms. Fairweather…"

Though her hair might be slight shorter, and the thick colour may have faded slightly, this, combined with her still-stunning eyes, was unmistakeably Angela Fairweather. Adjusting her oval-shaped glasses slightly, she turned and said, "It's Mrs. Rawlings now."

"I was unaware that E was able to bring you here," Clint commented, as Angela stepped away from her work for the moment, as another scientist took over, tapping into a small computer.

"E knew of my expertise in the field he wanted help with.. though I'm not used to _this,"_ Angela replied, turning back to look at what they were working on.

"Well, this is far different to the technology you were used to back on Lightspeed," Clint said, arms folded behind his back.

"Sir, set and ready to go," One of the other scientists said, stepping to approach Clint and Rawlings. Clint nodded slowly, saying, "Find the Rangers' power source, lock onto it and use the teleportation tech."

"But, sir, it hasn't been tested on living tissue yet…"

"It'll work," Clint pressed, glancing at Angela briefly.

Angela glanced back, switching between Clint and the group of scientists, looking at her expectantly, before she exhaled through her nose slowly. "Please, proceed," She asked.

Though the other scientists cast glances of doubt between themselves, they slowly moved around with their tablets, tapping a few times. One moved to a large, messy computer, with cables tangling all around the back, tapping a few keys, and slowly resting his hand on a large lever.

"Subject's status?" He asked.

"Level," Another called.

"Vitals are good," A third called, getting up from kneeling beside an armoured figure, and stepping away.

Slowly, two red eyes, embedded within a layered, lupine-shaped helmet, started to light up, and deep, metallic exhales came from the stylized muzzle mouth guard, vents opening up slightly with every breath. An additional two lights activated over the chest, as the plates raised and lowered slightly, forming a more comfortable cover across the body.

" _Proceeding with teleportation."_

"Proceeding," The scientist repeated, slowly gripping the lever and began pushing forward gently, machinery beginning to whine as energy built up, revealing bright blue lights columns of energy building up behind him. This energy slowly fed up the side of the warehouse, and along the ceiling until it reached a strange transmitter, the end of which was slowly building up with energy.

"Wasn't this prototype technology for Lightspeed?" Clint asked, having to raise his voice in order to be heard over the sound of building energy.

"It never made it into the physical stage," Angela replied, raising her voice as well as more energy built up, having to raise her hand to keep her sight good as the light started to intensify.

"Activating teleporter," the scientist called, pulling the lever down fully, locking it into place and tapping a few commands into the computer, placing a pair of black-lensed, protective glasses as the energy build up reached a peak. A great arc of energy struck down from the transmitter, crackling the air around it as it split just above the armoured figure, into five beams and each striking the metal mesh around the figure. The arcs of energy slowly began to spread, encasing the still figure, and a sudden flash of blinding white light lashed out when the arcs formed a complete cylinder around him.

Their lab coats getting blown back by the sudden blast of energy, a few even stumbling back at the unexpected force, while Clint quickly moved to support Angela, but she merely side stepped and kept her footing.

"Is it.. supposed to be that powerful?" Clint asked, both to Angela and the second scientist behind the protective glass, as the power started whining down.

"Energy readings went above the safe levels momentarily, but we were unable to correct them before the teleporter fully initiated," The scientist informed, tapping a few keys rapidly, several options flashing across his screen. "Trying to pinpoint his location."

* * *

" _That.. could have gone a lot better,"_ Matthew groaned as he leaned against the alley wall. The five had come to a stop in the middle of the city, though towards the quieter side, in a dimly-lit alley. Tanya had moved over to stand beside Isaac, both leaning against the wall, arms crossed, while Kyle pacing up and down the length of their section of the alley, and Natalie was on her Howler, tapping a few buttons and talking to MUTT and Savage.

" _You got anything on that Creepy Pasta guy?"_ Natalie asked, turning to face the others and tapped a few buttons. The others all turned when their visors allowed them to see a projected image of Savage and MUTT, as if they were standing in the alley with them, albeit with a faint blue tint.

" _He is of no known records that I have encountered,"_ Savage responded, as MUTT worked beside him, making tapping motions, on an out of sight keyboard. _"As of yet, MUTT hasn't found anything on your human records throughout the ages."_

" _At least nothing that would make sense,"_ MUTT added.

" _How do you mean?"_ Tanya asked.

" _Some records are related to your species' encounter with what they call 'Devil'."_

" _Don't go all fucking Bible-basher on us,"_ Isaac groaned, holding the bridge of his helmet in his hand.

" _Let him talk, dip shit,"_ Tanya interrupted quietly, nudging his ribs with an elbow.

" _There have been a few encounters throughout your recent Earth history-within the last 6,000 years-describing the creature 'Death' you encountered."_

MUTT made another tapping gesture, and a third image projected itself between the five teens, giving them a slightly shorter image of the Demon they had encountered, and left, at the school. The finer details were a bit fuzzy, but the important stuff was there. Exposed ribs, red, dried blood accenting his body, and slit cheeks.

" _Maybe we'll learn more about him next time you encounter him,"_ Savage added, turning to face the Warriors as Death's hologram faded.

" _Maybe he'll be a bitch when we face him in the 'Zords. A lot of them have,"_ Matthew said, getting up from the wall and pacing around the opposite side of the holograms to Kyle.

" _Apart from Fear."_

" _Shut it, Nat,"_ Matthew grumbled under his breath.

" _I hate to break from the bonding session,"_ MUTT interrupted, becoming the main focus of the projection briefly.

" _When the hell do you teach him sarcasm?"_ Isaac asked Savage.

" _But it appears that there is a great energy source approaching your location; I will try and find out what it is exactly. In the meantime, I'll give you the estimated location,"_ MUTT informed, before the projection was cut off and their visors returned to normal.

" _C'mon, let's see what this things all about,"_ Kyle said, as the others kicked off from the wall.

" _Come on then,"_ Isaac called, quickly jogging out of the alley's nearest exit, the others quickly running after him, the five moving just slow enough to not appear like complete blurs of their colours, but still more than fast enough to get to where they needed to go within a minute.

It took them barely a minute to reach the marked location, just outside the main, big city area, but still very much within the city's borders. Tall buildings were just in sight, with much smaller, office-based building surrounding them. The five stopped in a large, empty space between buildings, void of people at the moment.

" _Now, where is this thing MUTT was worried about?"_ Matthew asked, hands resting on his hips as he looked around, bending over slightly to catch his breath.

Natalie glanced around at the tall buildings in the distance, before her eyes glanced to the sky, and there, something caught her eye.

" _Guys.. you might want to look up."_

The others looked towards the sky, and all improved their stance when they saw what appeared to be a swirling portal, electricity crackling all around it.

" _I take it that's it,"_ Matthew commented, answering himself as the crackling grew in intensity.

They all suddenly moved back when the crackling suddenly arched forward, moving towards the ground with unexpected force. When they saw where he was going to strike-right where they were standing-five blurs quickly replaced them as they rushed off.

Barely dodging the strike as it hit the ground, cracking the concrete and sending large chunks flying, as if the heavy material was mere Styrofoam.

" _Jesus…"_ Natalie muttered, coming to a stop with a small skid against the ground, the others coming to a stop just after Natalie, small slid marks from where the bottom of their boots etched onto the ground.

" _D'you think that's it?_ _"_

" _Shove it up your ass, Isaac."_

" _Guys…"_ Kyle called, gesturing to where the newly formed impact point in the concrete. When they saw what Kyle must have been talking about, and slowly drew their Wolf Blades.

Kneeling in the shallow crater, one fist embedded in the ground and the other resting on his knee, was a humanoid figure wearing plated armour, fitting the figure well enough to not take from the movement of the person behind the metal.

Slowly rising, the plated metal slowly folding and shifting slightly with the movements, more of the person was revealed. The most prominent thing that could be taken from the figure was the helmet, resembling a canine head, a short muzzle sticking out from the mouth guard, and shorted ears sticking out from just behind the back.

The forearms were surrounded by thick armour, which was soon revealed to be weaponry storage; with a simple flick of the wrist, a pair of short blades gutted out over the back of the hand. The pair of deep, glowing red eyes focused solely on the Warriors.

" _You've been quiet the pain in our side, Rangers,"_ The new figure said, his voice mechanically altered, masking his identity. _"I believe it time you learn your place in this world."_

" _MUTT.. got anything for us?"_ Isaac asked, raising his Howler briefly to speak with their comms. The others quickly shifted into better stances, holding their Wolf Blades defensively.

A short silence followed, before Savage's voice suddenly came over the comms.

" _Warriors, that power source coming from this being.. it's the Silver Crystal. The humans have somehow harnessed the Silver Howler!"_

" _Doesn't matter who this fucker is or what he's got. We'll fuck him up,"_ Matthew said, before he twisted the blade around slightly, into a more offensive hold.

" _Yeah. So let's stop talking and kick the shit out of him,"_ Kyle agreed, copying Matthew's stance, before the two suddenly rushed forward. Momentarily becoming blurs as they rushed off.

" _Matt, Kyle, no!"_ Isaac shouted, stepping forward once to try to stop them, but wasn't quick enough. They had crossed the distance between the five of them and this new Silver guy, their blades raised as they shouted.

But they never got a chance to strike.

The new Warrior had stepped out from the crater he had created, the armour moving with the steps, almost like it was alive against the wearer. But as it calmly approached the rushing Matt and Kyle, and Matt's blade came slicing downward, the figure simply raised its hand and caught the blade. Sparks flew from the contact, but Matt's eyes widened when it didn't create any sort of damage.

While he was distracted, he was struck in the chest with a swift kick, with enough force to send Matt flying back, flailing through the air before he came crashing down onto the ground. With the blade still in hand, the Silver Ranger flipped the blade around, grabbing the upper handle and spun around, blocking an attack from Kyle.

The two exchanged a few strikes at each other, Kyle not managing to get any hits on the Silver Ranger, but he was struck multiple times by the quick movements and reactions of the opponent, the final blow to knock him back was a forceful roundhouse kick to the visor. The momentum caused him to go flying backwards, spinning before crashing down on the ground. Large chunks of the visor was cracked, and looked as though they were about to fall out entirely.

The Silver Warrior slowly turned to face the remaining three Warriors, tossing the large blade aside, leaving it clattering on the ground just out of Kyle's reach. _"I was expecting more, but I'll take an easy defeat,"_ He said, the small vents on the side of the muzzle extension opening and closing with small _hisses_ of air.

" _Like fuck is that going to happen!"_ Tanya snapped, before suddenly rushing forward, blade out and went on the attack.

" _Why doesn't anyone listen to what I fucking say?"_ Isaac groaned, shoulders sagging slightly before glancing at Natalie. She already had her Wolf Blade out, drumming her fingers against the metal briefly, glancing at the red-suited Warrior. Sighing again, Isaac drew his blade and said, _"Fuck it."_

With that, he flicked the blade around to hold it on both hands and rushed after Tanya with Natalie quickly following, the three attacking the Silver Ranger, hoping at least one of them strike landed a blow.

But for the first few minutes, they weren't having much luck. Natalie received a kick to her abdomen, forcing the wind from her and making her drop to one knee. She almost received a kick to the side of her helmet, if Tanya hadn't shoulder barged the Silver Ranger aside. His kick struck open air, and Natalie quickly moved off slightly, leaving Isaac and Tanya to fight.

Recovering from the unexpected shoulder barge, the Silver Ranger slowly turned to face the Yellow and Red Warrior, both of whom took offensive fighting stances, fingers flexing around the handles. He slowly straightened his stance, and eventually brought his forearms across his chest, bringing them down to his sides. The momentum carried duel blades out from the mounts over his wrists, the blades glowing a faint blue energy, giving off a low _humming_ noise.

" _You should have left this country when you first met resistance,"_ The Silver Ranger growled, the vents once again opening and sealing as he spoke, the eye ports glowing a dark red. Shifting into an attack stance, one arm crossed his chest while the other was held at his side.

" _And that's your problem, how?"_ Isaac asked, holding the blade at a slightly different angle, before rushing forward, Tanya following suite, the two vanishing into blurs of red and yellow. The Silver Ranger quickly turned on the spot, and in an instant, he rushed off, vanishing into a blur of silver, keeping pace with the Warriors as they ran at him.

Red, Silver and Yellow blurs ran through the centre space of the area, barely dodging several buildings as they went full circle, running laps of the area repeatedly. One trying to catch the other, the other trying to keep pace with the Warriors.

The red blur was the first to falter, the Silver Ranger had quickly turned and started running back in the opposite direction, and clotheslined Isaac. The speed they were going meant Isaac was sent flying into the side of the nearest building, breaking clean through the bricks and glass, sending shards and chunks falling upon his entry. The only sign of him being there was the mound of rubble and glass, with a hand hanging limply out of a gap.

With Tanya the only Warrior left standing, the two racing blurs of Yellow and Silver ground to a stop in the middle of the area, leaving trails of dust and unturned rubble from sharp turns in their wake.

The two exchanged, blocked and dodged blows from the other; blades barely grazing the visors and helmets, leaving just the faintest scratches, before they ended up returning the attack. The Silver Ranger stepped back when Tanya tried sending a kick at him, and he quickly retaliated with a punch of his energy blades.

Luckily, Tanya managed to get his blade caught with her Wolf Blade; but with a quick twist of the wrist, the Ranger got her to lose her grip on the blade, and sent it flying to the ground. Now unarmed, Tanya quickly ducked and backed up as the Silver Ranger threw fists and energy blades at her.

When she finally managed to throw a punch back at him, he caught the fist as it came flying at him, gripping her wrist firmly. Using the grip on her wrist, he drove a knee into her stomach, and twisted her around so he had her pinned, her arm twisted sharply behind her back, forcing her to one knee.

Teeth grit beneath her helmet, Tanya tried to get out of the hold, but found any movement from her resulted in her wrist and arm bending in an even more uncomfortable angle. _"Screw you asshole,"_ She snarled, trying to kick at his ankles.

" _I'd advise you to stop doing that,"_ The Silver Ranger warned, but one of her kicks caught his knee and he stumbled momentarily. He retaliated by driving his knee into her elbow, a sickening crack escaping the limb, and a muffled shout coming from Tanya. _"I warned you!"_

Between her previous shout, Silver's warning and the sudden, blinding pain coming from her now unfeeling arm, Tanya missed the comm-link blip the first time round. She only realized when she suddenly heard MUTT.

" _Tanya, listen to me. We've identified a weak spot on the Silver Warriors' suit; at the back, where the neck meets the back, there's a power dampener. Strike that, and it should short-circuit the Warriors' armour."_

Her teeth still grinding against each other, to help dull the sudden pain, Tanya glanced to the side, seeing the Silver Ranger attempting to keep her stationary.

'We'll see how long that last,' She thought bitterly. Slowly, she managed to force one of her boots flat against the ground, giving her a bit more traction than previously.

With a sudden burst of speed and strength, with the Silver Ranger unable to counter, Tanya flew up and flipped over his head, managing to wrench her arm free and brought it close to her person, clenching the other hand into a fist.

Tanya quickly saw what MUTT had talked about, seeing through the blaring pain of her arm. A small, hand-sized, crystal-like growth coming out from the back of the plated armour. As she continued the arc over the Silver Ranger, she brought her fist slamming down on the crystal power dampener, using so much force she thought she'd broken her other hand momentarily.

The moment her fist slammed down on the crystalline dampener, several arcs of energy and electrically surrounded the body of the Silver Ranger, his altered shouts of pain and surprise echoing out from the voice modular, the force sending Tanya flying onto her back. He dropped to his knees, hands flying to reach behind his back to the source of the energy arcs, desperately clawing at the armour, blades drawn back into the guards.

Slowly, further energy started to encircle the Silver Ranger, different to the arcs coming from the dampener. Encasing him fully, it wasn't long before a flash of blue light exploded, and he was gone.

All that remained of his presence was the destruction of the area and the battered Warriors scattered around the place. While Matthew, Natalie and Kyle were slowly recovering, holding severely injured parts of their body, Tanya slowly rose back to her feet, one hand firmly clutching her other arm, and slowly limped towards the pile of bricks Isaac was buried under.

" _MUTT.. get the medical supplies ready…"_ Tanya muttered into her Howler as she knelt down beside the bricks, pushing a few off and easing Isaac out of the rubble. Eventually falling back against the still-standing wall, she brought Isaac's head up to rest on her lap.

* * *

"Complete system overload! Vitals are through the roof!" One scientist shouted out, furiously tapping at a keyboard.

"Pull him back!" Angela called, quickly running around to the larger computer, and tapping the keyboards, looking across at the multiple screens, showing her several bits of information. Right now, a lot of the screen was filled with flashing warnings, and spiked vital signs.

The scientist beside Fairweather quickly grasped the lever that had sent the Asset out, and slowly began pulling it back to its previous position. Slowly, the energy in the projector above started to build up again, and a blue orb of energy started to reform in the centre of the warehouse. Clint standing to one side, hands squeezing into fists briefly as energy crackled the air around them.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, the orb of energy split and started retreating to the projector above. This revealed the kneeling Silver Ranger, electricity still crackling around his body and shouts of modulated pain escaping the muzzle point.

"Shut the suit down!" Clint ordered, quickly trying to move in to the now collapsed, writhing body of the Silver Ranger. One scientist slammed an open hand on a big, red button beside the nearest keyboard, the sound of machinery shutting down echoed throughout the warehouse, and the electricity arcing around the Silver suit finally ceased.

The moment the electricity died down, Clint rushed over with Angela, the latter of which had a medical bag with her, as they quickly knelt beside the suit and rolled it onto its back, though Clint quickly withdrew his hands when he found the metal was still smoldering. Luckily, Fairweather had the experience to wear insulated gloves as she worked on the hot and electrical-charged suit.

Tapping a small, hidden button under the helmet's back and quickly leaned back as the panels started folding back. As more folded back, folding upward and collecting over the top of the head, revealing the person wearing the armour.

"E! E, c'mon. Talk to me!" Clint pressed, shaking the unmoving shoulders of E through the Silver armoured suit. A few small cuts were visible across his face and cheeks, but what injures lay underneath were unknown.

"Get those vital scans back up," Fairweather instructed as she pressed strategic places across the suit; ever so slowly, each section of which she pressed started to open up, plates of metal slowly easing from their defensive, locked position and began revealing the wearer.

From what her keen eyes could pick out, Fairweather could see that there weren't any serious injures facing E, just a few electrical burns across his body, but they were neither life threatening nor changing.

"He needs recovery time," Fairweather instructed, as a pair of medics came into the warehouse, stretcher carried between them. By the time they arrived at their side and set the stretcher down, the Silver suit armour had fully opened up, looking as though the skin of a body was forced open, revealing the internal body.

Taking great care under the watchful eye of Clint, the medics hoisted E onto the stretcher, easing an oxygen mask over his mouth and nose, and carefully raised the stretcher with him on.

"Go with him, I'll see what I can recover from the suit," Fairweather instructed, gesturing for Clint to follow the medics as they carried E away. She could tell he wanted to go, the way his head followed the stretcher, and slight leg twitch, as if to go after him regardless.

Clint glanced back, nodding once before following the medics through the double doors. Leaving Fairweather and the other scientists in the warehouse. "Pass me one of the data-readers. Let's see what we can recover from the suit's field test," She asked, gesturing for the other scientist to pass her a mess of wires and a single, brick-sized piece of tech.

Once she had one in hand, she carefully leaned into the still-open Silver Ranger suit, and firmly fed the wires into the data ports in the neck section of the suit. Immediately, information and data began to feed into the pad, and Fairweather began methodically going through everything she could get.

* * *

"Fuck.. that was a rough one," Kyle groaned, leaning back against the floor, an ice pack firmly pressed against his forehead. He raised it briefly, fingering the large bruise forming across the side of his head, and winced as he placed the ice pack over the sour area again.

"Maybe if you and Matt didn't go balls deep at once, we might have had a better chance," Natalie grunted in response, wiping a bit of blood that'd started trickling from her nose, and tried getting a good look at the pair of black eyes she been so lucky to receive. Unfortunately, her iPhone screen had been smashed during the fight, rendering it useless. "Tyler's gonna be pissed again."

"Try thinking of an excuse this time," Matthew joked, before coughing loudly as he leaned back against the chair, glancing at his hand and grimacing slightly at the small traces of blood splattered across his palm. Cleaning his hand on his partially torn shirt, he glanced up as MUTT re-entered the room, supporting Tanya as she limped beside him.

One arm firmly locked in place with a cast, a bag of _Instinct_ in her other hand around MUTT's shoulders, and the occasion mistake meant she almost dropped to one knee. Each time it caused her to wince at the pain throbbing from her knee.

" _The_ Instinct _should numb the pain within ten more minutes,"_ MUTT assured as he helped Tanya sit on one of the free chairs. When she had settled, MUTT turned to the others, handing another ice pack to Kyle and took the almost melted one he had.

"Any word on our new friend?" Matt asked as MUTT came to check the _Instinct_ IV-drip, feeding the pain number into his bloodstream.

" _Savage and I are going through the records, analyzing the footage we managed to capture of him,"_ MUTT said, making minor adjustments to the feed of _Instinct_ into Matt's blood.

"What about Isaac?" Tanya asked, her voice much quieter than usual.

" _Isaac is recovering. I am unsure how much force this new Warrior is able to deliver, but apparently he has enough to stab through this grade of armour,"_ MUTT said, turning to face Tanya solely after facing the group. _"He is currently resting, but I will inform you when he has awoke."_

Tanya nodded slightly, wiping a bit of dried blood from a busted lip. "Thanks."

" _For the time being, I'd advise you five remain within the Den. From what we've connected, it appears whoever is after you has access to knowledge of where you live. And, evidently, where you attended college."_

"Damn government," Matt muttered dryly, resting his head back as MUTT quietly left the large room they had to recover. The door closed behind him with a small _hiss,_ leaving silence to envelope the quiet, injured teenagers.

* * *

" _They are recovery, albeit slowly,"_ MUTT informed as he walked through to the main Command Room, walking up to Savage. Said wolf had his arms folded behind his back, and was going through several images projected onto the blank wall.

Savage glanced back upon MUTT's entrance, before looking back at the images and small clips MUTT had managed to recover from the Warrior's tech. All showed the same thing, with different perspectives on this mysterious, silver-armoured clad Warrior.

"How could the humans have harnessed the power of the Silver Crystal? They have the potential to destroy entire countries, and yet they were able to wield it within half a moon cycle," Savage said to himself, ears flicking back momentarily.

" _You must remember, Savage, the humans have had Rangers for nearly two decades now. Though I must admit, even with this knowledge, their ability to harness the Silver Howler in such a short space of time is.. rather strange."_

Savage gently stroked his chin in silence, before asking, "Has there been anyone of note entering the territory recently?"

" _How do you mean?"_ MUTT asked, yet had already started tapping away commands at a keyboard.

"We have gone through the records of everyone that has resided in Pax Valley. So far, none of the known residence have this knowledge. Perhaps it's someone from beyond."

" _I believe the saying is, 'out of town', Savage,"_ MUTT corrected, bringing up several camera feeds over the images of the Silver Ranger, and immediately, they began going at such a speed, Savage struggled to keep up with them all.

But MUTT didn't.

" _Going through flight records within the last week,"_ MUTT informed, tapping away as his faceless head focused solely on a small gap between the keyboards and screens. After ten minutes of going through it, he paused for the briefest moment.

" _Interesting."_

"What did you find?" Savage asked.

" _There was a flight coming into Pax Valley Airport, on the 26_ _th_ _January at exactly 14:36. However, what catches my interest is the fact that it has removed one seat."_

"I.. don't follow."

" _They normally list all of the empty seats on each flight, yet with this one, the seat itself has been removed from record. Whoever was in that seat, I believe to be our person of interest."_

"Hmm… I take that it's best to leave you to it," Savage mused, side glancing at MUTT. Though he wouldn't admit it, he didn't really fully understand everything MUTT had said.

" _I will identify this missing seat,"_ MUTT replied, focused almost entirely on the screens and keyboards. _"The teenagers shall be alright for the time being, so you needn't worry about them."_

"Good.. good," Savage grunted lowly, nodding once or twice before turning to leave. And he had almost reached the sliding door when MUTT spoke again.

" _Tanya's inherited Yei's concern."_

Savage paused briefly when MUTT's words sunk in, closing his eyes for a moment before opening them sharply once more. Silently, he walked through the open door, just as quietly as he had been, and the door slid shut, leaving MUTT to do his work.

* * *

"They'll be staying away from their homes."

Clint glanced up when he heard E speak all of a sudden. Thankfully, E's condition had stabled out when they got him to the medical wing and hooked him up. He had a couple of IV-drips feeding into his forearm, and a steady heartbeat sounding through the room.

"How do you mean?" Clint asked, leaning forward in his chair slightly.

"They'll have figured out by now that we know all about them. We know where they went in education, and we would have intervened with Mrs. Steele and Mr. Colon if we were quick enough. But, as the events unfolded, they found themselves together. If they know we know where they worked and studied, it is more than likely they know we know where they live."

"So.. where does that us put us?" Clint questioned.

"It means…" E said, slowly reaching across and tearing the drips from his arm, in the process taking his heartbeat monitor pads from pressing against his chest. Immediately, a steady, loud beep sounded out through the room, and Clint was sure it was echoing to the medics. "That I need to get back into that suit."

"Wow, wow. Easy, E," Clint said, quickly getting to his feet, trying to keep E from getting up, but he stopped just as quickly when E glared at him. Grabbing his jacket from the chair on the other side of the bed, doing his shirt up again, thus hiding the rather painful-looking electrical burns across his chest. "That suit damn near killed you."

"We need to find out how those Rangers were able to identify the power dampener. I doubt any of them studied anything remotely close, so they must have a tech helping them. We just need to get information out of them," E said, walking past Clint and pushing the door to his room. Clint quickly rushed to move after E, slipping past the doors as they closed.

Several medics and doctors had been rushing to E's room, but all moved to the side as he came storming through the corridor, Clint a few steps behind him. It wasn't long before he was accompanied by several armed Division 13 soldiers, and neared the same warehouse they had brought him from, literally, twenty minutes ago.

And E himself led the walk back to the warehouse, a deathly glare to his eyes as they approached.

* * *

 **So...yeah. I am still alive.**

 **I cannot be more sorry for the lack of updates to this thing; I just haven't found the motivation up until now. But I promise, there will be more consistent updates for the foreseeable future.**

 **Nf991 signing out.**


	15. Episode 14 - Tooth and Claw, Part 1

Episode 14 - Tooth and Claw, Part 1

"Yo, back!"

Matthew stepped through the main control door, duffle bag over his shoulder and baseball cap coming off of his head. Ruffling his hair to get rid of the hat hair that had formed, he glanced around.

"Geez, bit light on the ground aren't we?"

To the far side of the Command Room, he saw Natalie sitting on one of the desks raised from the floor, with MUTT standing beside her, slowly unwrapping a bandage from around her upper arm. A week ago, there had been a large gash slicing through her skin, almost reaching the bone.

But now, nothing. The skin was smooth, no sign of that a cut had even been there, just the skin was a slightly lighter colour than that around the bandage. Giving her another once over, MUTT gave her the all clear and proceeding back to the computer screens and keyboards, tapping away in silence.

Turning her head slightly, she saw Matt and got off of the table. "Anyone see you?" She asked, grabbing her hoodie and slipping it back on over her head.

"Nah, got in and out quick. Thankfully, no-one home. Snagged all I could, that I needed, and took out all the money from my account, just like Isaac said."

"Good," Natalie nodded, folding her arms slightly.

"Where is everyone anyway?" Matt asked, tossing the duffle bag off onto one of the other tables as it raised up from the ground.

"Kyle's sleeping, and Isaac and Tanya are doing their usual thing."

"Fucking?" Matthew asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Savage has, apparently, forbid anything like that in the Den," Natalie replied, thankfully. "At least we don't have to worry waking up at two in the morning to bed springs."

"So, where they at?" Matt asked, again, as he unzipped his bag and began rummaging through it, half-paying attention.

"Training with Savage."

Matt snorted slightly, commenting, "God help them then."

* * *

Above ground, hidden within the thick trees and bushes that surrounded the area of the forest the Den resided beneath, distant growls, grunts and shouts echoed off of the trees. The distant sound of blades striking one another sounded out, barely seconds after each grunt sounded.

Isaac jumped back, red-accented Wolf Blade gripped in hand, and breathing deeply, sweat trickling down his forehead, and somewhat soaking into the black vest. This exposed some of the old injures across his arms, mostly faded scars, from previous encounters.

After a quick wipe across his brow to clear some sweat, he grabbed onto the Wolf Blade again and rushed forward to return a strike. Just in time for Tanya to step back from one of Savage's attacks, letting Isaac block the attack and send a kick to Savage's torso.

As Savage and Isaac exchanged blows and blocked attacks, Tanya took a second to take a breather, leaning forward to slightly to catch her breath, but not enough to make it seem like her guard was down.

She too wore a black sweat vest, though obviously a more feminine one, and dark grey sweat pants. Several fresh scars were across her arms, and what was exposed of her neck, from previous fighting, the most notable was the still bandaged portion of her arm. The bone had healed, thankfully for the _Instinct_ MUTT and Savage had pumped into their systems the past week.

Rolling her neck slowly, Tanya adjusted the wraps around her hands and grabbed onto the Blade again, gritting her teeth as she re-joined the practice.

"Good, good. You're learning," Savage grunted, dodging and blocking attacks from now both attackers, blades clashing with Isaac's and ducking to avoid Tanya's swinging blade. "Working through unity, you may stand a chance at fighting the Demons."

"Very encouraging, aren't you?" Isaac grunted, rolling his shoulder briefly before returning another strike, swords clashing. But at that moment, he adjusted his grip, still in the sword lock, and forced Savage's blade up. The Wolf raised an eyebrow slightly, but side glanced and quickly side stepped when Tanya came rushing at him.

Her blade barely missed Savage's snout, able to see his reflection in the steel of the blade as it passed.

The three quickly stepped apart, Tanya and Isaac to one side and Savage on the other. The three held defensive stances for a few more moments, the humans breathing a bit deeply, before Savage suddenly dropped the stance. Prompting the teens to do the same.

"You two are improving, especially considering, this time five nights ago, you could neither remain conscious nor stand for very long. With that, progression has been made," Savage informed, driving his blade into the soil beside him, and folding his arms behind his back.

Tanya and Isaac both disposed of their blades, dropping their blades or attempting to lodge them in the dirt. Tanya bent over slightly to catch her breath, sweat dripping from her hair, and Isaac took a few steps back to lean partially against a tree.

"There are points for improvement, your stances, and you seem to gain temporary tunnel vision. But, these are why we train. Tomorrow, we will continue with it. For now, rest," Savage instructed, gathering his blade and walking away from the small clear patch in a largely wooded area, quickly vanishing into the woods.

Knowing he was heading towards the secret entrance to the Den, Isaac and Tanya took their time, the latter of the two heading over to another tree, just out of reach of their fighting arena, and grabbed a bottle of water. Unscrewing the cap, she commented, "Good fight," before taking a few sips.

"At least now you can't kick my ass so easily," Isaac commented, grabbing both their blades and resting them against one of the other trees and made his way to grab his own bottle of water. Though he failed to notice, Tanya side glanced at him as he approached, and a smirk slowly began to cross her lips as she drank. When he reached her and went down to reach for his bottle, Tanya quickly kicked it over.

Isaac glanced up to Tanya, still drinking from her bottle, and asked, "Really?"

"What?" She asked, faking innocence as she looked down at him. He was sure it could see a tint of a smirk to her gaze. Isaac slowly rose to his feet height again, yet with a small smirk crossing his face.

"Was that really necessary?" He asked again, standing beside her. Shifting his stance slightly, slowly cutting off a few of her options to get away.

"Don't know what you're talking about," Tanya mused, leaning back against the tree she had put her bottle at, looking at Isaac with a slight tilt to her head. She held onto the bottle with both hands, yet still had the cap still clasped in her hand.

"Knocking my bottle over."

"Oh, _that._ That might not have been necessary.. but this is."

Immediately, Isaac saw her hands move, but he didn't get a chance to react as she suddenly threw the contents of her bottle all over him. He shouted out at the sudden cold flooding over him, and quickly took a few steps aside to recover. All the while, Tanya belted out laughter, holding her sides as she leaned against the tree.

His vest now utterly soaked through, hugging his frame, Isaac wiped some of the water from his face and turned to face Tanya again, half of his hair stuck down from the water, and the other half was stuck up by the wipe of his hand. He tried to maintain a slight glare, but it ended up breaking into a grin as Tanya's laughs died down. In turn, it was replaced with a smirk.

"Oh.. you're gonna regret that," Isaac said, slowly moving towards Tanya. Tanya stayed where she was, yet shifted into a slight defensive stance. The one they took when practicing.

Isaac took note, and smirked as he shifted into a similar stance. The two stayed that way for a few seconds, before Tanya suddenly rushed forward. Isaac had planned for her to rush and try and tackle him, but when she got closer, he was surprised.

Instead of doing what he expected her to do, Tanya jumped, barely a few meters from him, and latched her arms around his shoulders, her legs hooking around his waist, using him to support her entirely. But Isaac quickly recovered from the surprise, and smirked as he held her sides and walked forward. A low grunt came from Tanya as her back made soft contact with the bark.

Her grunt turned to a low groan as Isaac began nipping at the base of her neck, leaving little love bites across what skin he could reach.

"Fuck, Isaac.. you horny bastard," Tanya hissed through grit teeth, lightly tugging at his hair. Guiding him across her neck.

"You brought this on yourself," Isaac whispered against her neck, adding a few gentle bites here and there. He eventually raised his head, and smirked at her increased heart rate, trailing additional kisses along the side of her neck, up to beneath her ear.

As he gently breathed on her neck, electing goose bumps to rapidly form, Tanya lightly clawed at his bicep and forearm. "Savage'll be pissed if he sees this."

"You're not complaining, are you?" He asked, smirking as he pulled his head back, a smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. "Besides, he said nothing _in_ the Den. He never said anything about _outside_ the Den."

"Well, I don't know about you," Tanya mused, gently bringing both her hands to his shoulders, and pushed him back slightly. "But I'm not one to screw about on dirt. Wait until we've found a place to screw, without having to clean the dirt off later."

With an over-exaggerated huff, Isaac reluctantly pulled back, and Tanya got herself back on her feet again. Grabbing his water bottle from her feet, she flicked it in the air and smirked as Isaac quickly caught it. "Let's just you're slower in bed," She whispered into his ear, patting his shoulder as she walked around him, heading back to the Den.

Isaac glanced back at her briefly, smirking away as he glanced down at the bottle in hand. Chuckling softly, he unscrewed the cap and began taking mouthfuls of water as he followed after her.

* * *

" _I believe I have found our mystery passenger,"_ MUTT said just as Isaac and Tanya entered the Den's main Command Room. As the doors _hissed_ close behind them, they saw the room now housed all of the others, including Matt. Kyle must have been woken up just before they arrived.

"Glad you two could join us," Savage said upon them entering, turning partially to face them, arms crossed over his chest. The other teens glanced at them, Natalie elbowing Matt in the ribs to get his attention. The two exchanged smirks and glances as Isaac and Tanya approached. "As you were MUTT," Savage asked, turning back to face the robot as Isaac ad Tanya slipped into the small semi-circle around MUTT.

MUTT turned to face the computer screens and keyboards behind him, and typed a few commands in. Seconds later, a small projector above them shot an image in the gap between him and the rest of the group. The projector showed a full-body image of a woman, wearing a lab coat and black hair coming down over her shoulders partially. A set of glasses rested on her nose, with a small smile across her face.

" _Dr Angela Rawlings, formally Angela Fairweather. Former Head Scientist and Second-in-Command of the Lightspeed Aquabase in Marina Bay. Married to former Green Lightspeed Ranger, Joel Rawlings. Currently forty-four years of age."_

"So, this is the person that's been helping our military friends with that Silver Ranger?" Isaac asked, arms crossed over his chest.

" _It appears so. Security footage from Pax Valley Airport identifies a passenger that was removed from the passenger list for the flight. All that was required was to run a reverse facial scan, and this is how I found,"_ MUTT further explained, deactivating the projector and returning to the computers. _"I will need more time to see if I can track her from the airport. This may give us a location of where the military faction is located."_

"And until then, we, what? Wait and try kicking the shit out of any Demons that decide to show their ugly mugs?" Isaac asked, glancing around at the others briefly.

"Sounds like as good a plan as any," Kyle agreed.

"In the meantime, we will continue with our training. And since Isaac and Tanya have had their training for today, you three are to have your training now," Savage instructed, turning to face Matt, Natalie and Kyle. Almost simultaneously, three pairs of shoulders shrugged and a collection of sighs came from them. In turn, Isaac and Tanya both chuckled, the pair grinning slightly.

"Fine," Matt grunted, getting up from his seat. "Let's just get this over with."

"You two, shower. And remember my warning," Savage said to the two, sending a glare at them for a brief moment, before gesturing for the other three to follow him back out of the Den.

As the four left, three slower than the other, Isaac turned to MUTT. "How the hell does Savage get all that energy from?"

" _His species had higher endurance and energy; they had to during the time period they were from,"_ MUTT informed, still facing the screens.

"Come on, Biology lessons are later. Right now, you stink like shit," Tanya said, lightly tapping Isaac's chest and gesturing to the door that led to the showers of the Den.

"Yeah, because you smell fucking incredible yourself," Isaac replied, sarcasm dripping from his tone, yet both were smiling as they moved through the door. Leaving the main Command Room of the Den, leaving only MUTT working away.

* * *

Wolkeins were sent flying through the air, slamming into rocks in such a way that, if humans were in their place, bones would surely be broken and snapped beyond repair. As some bodies crumpled to the ground after striking sharpened, large rocks, others circling around started rushing forward. A mix of standard Wolkeins and the dull-gold armour Wolkein Commanders, but all were sent either into the ground or into the jagged walls.

At the centre of it all, stood Batibat and Death, except the latter was a far cry from his appearance in the Human Realm. Instead of the spindly, exposed bone and ligaments, his proportions were more accurate to a creature his size. He was wrapped in robes, looking like ceremonial robes with a hood hiding his face, in addition to the shadows cast by the lack of light within the Realm. Whenever there was a column of light streaked through the darkness, and caught him just right, the sliced cheeks with the dried blood on the black 'skin' was visible.

Their weapons draw-Batibat with her daggers and Death, a glowing green blade, stemming from a large, black steel sword handle, at least the length of three hands, moulded with the heads of skulls at either end of the blade handle-the two stood, backs to one another, facing off either side of the Wolkeins as they came in.

The two fought the waves of Wolkeins for what seemed like hours, before the final Wolkein they had dropped to the ground, its head somewhere else entirely, and didn't get back up again.

The glowing green blade vanishing into the blade handle, Death flicked his robe back momentarily to holster the grip at his side. "I requested a challenge, not a walk."

"Perhaps you should create another challenge for yourself - might be the only way you can prove your worth," Batibat responded sharply, slipping her blades back up her sleeves and turning to face the hooded figure of Death. Her eyes narrowed into thin slits, a scowl etched on her face.

"Maybe I should. Might actually be able to make a worth-while opponent," Death commented, folding his arms behind his back and walked a short distance away, stepping over multiple Wolkein bodies to do so. "I mean, just because the Master himself made you the Demon Summoner, doesn't mean you can create decent creations from scratch."

"As of now, I am the most experienced," Batibat shot back, slowly stepping out over the bodies as well, following after Death, the faint clicking of her heels echoing down the dark caverns. "So I'd like to see you try."

"Is that how you got Fear to dishonour the Master and abandon his cause?" Death asked.

A sudden rush of wind came up behind him, ruffling his robes softly, and as he turned around, he found out the cause of it. Batibat was standing toe-to-toe with him, nearly level with him in this form. He had to look for a few seconds longer to see her pupils, almost blending into the acid green of her eyes. A low, threaten snarl came from her, exposing her slightly fanged teeth.

"Do not _dare_ speak that traitor's name," Batibat threatened, a blade flying from her sleeve, back into her hand and almost pressed against his throat. If someone were to come across the pair, and see the dried blood across Death's throat, they would have thought Batibat had already tried slicing his throat.

" _ **ENOUGH!"**_

The great, booming voice was accompanied by a sudden, cold presence washing over both of them. Immediately following the freezing sensation, more so than the usually presence, both Death and Batibat dropped to one knee, their eyes, or lack thereof in Death's case, firmly faced the ground. The presence seemed to grow in front of them, as if there was an actual being physically there.

" _ **YOUR PETTY SQUABBLING IS OF NO CONCERN TO ME! I AM WITHIN BREATHING DISTANCE OF BEING RELEASED ONTO THE HUMAN REALM, AND YET YOU QUARRLE AS THOUGH YOU ARE TURNING HUMAN YOURSELVES! GET TO THE HUMAN REALM, AND DESTROY THE WARRIORS! MY POWERS WILL SOON BE RELEASED UPON THEIR REALM!"**_ Horror's voice boomed down the caverns, seemingly bouncing off the walls, and seemed to vibrate the very ground that Batibat and Death knelt on.

"Master, please, we require time. This.. latest addition to the Warriors may require some observations, so we can see what we are dealing wi-" Batibat requested, pleading even, but quickly grew silent when the irritated, booming voice of her Master returned, louder than before.

" _ **TIME IS NOT ON OUR SIDE, BATIBAT! TAKE A WARRIOR TO THE HUMAN REALM, AND BRING THE WARRIORS TO YOU. THE HUMANS WILL COME, AND YOU WILL DESTROY THEM!"**_

"Yes, Master," Batibat replied quietly, her fingers flexing slightly, gathering and spreading the dirt beneath her hands, as she side glanced to Death, who had remained silent throughout this entire exchange.

"Yes.. Master Horror," Death responded when both Batibat and Horror's presence seemingly turned to him, keeping his hollowed out eyes facing the ground.

With the few words finally exchanged, the large, threatening presence started to fade away, before vanishing entirely, and the temperature raised a few, but still felt rather cold, like Horror's presence remained even when he was entirely gone.

Letting another few seconds pass, Death slowly rose to his feet, and looked to Batibat as she did the same. "So, you have an idea in mind?"

"I do, actually," Batibat snapped, throwing a dirty glare at Death, before turning on the spot and began walking down the opposite end of the cavern. Her cloaked dress following her, like darkened fog, clinging to her skin. "One that will kill two birds with one stone."

* * *

"Hold that for me, please."

"Yep," Clint said lowly, grabbing onto the panel of the Silver Ranger suit and gently easing it up, revealing several wires and electrical circuits hidden away from sight. He glanced aside, seeing the other scientists working on the digital aspects of the suit, going through.. whatever they needed. He hadn't been focused on what they said.

"They're working on the muscle-memory and fighting assistance," Fairweather informed him, seeing the somewhat confused look he gave when he glanced at the other scientists. When he glanced back at her, she added, "They've got the digital aspects of the suit covered, but we need to fix some of the minor, physical problems. Now, put your mask on."

Clint nodded slightly, reaching aside and putting the welding mask over his head, and brought the mask down to cover his face. He glanced to Fairweather, seeing she had done the same, and made sure the thick gloves he wore were secure as she pulled out the miniature welding torch.

Thick, bright sparks flew when the torch activated, fusing pieces of metal and cables together from where they had broken apart. Sparks bounced off both her mask, and Clint's gloves, before she pulled away and pulled her mask up.

"Right, that should do it for that," She uttered quietly as she set the torch to one side, Clint setting the panel down again. The suit seemed to flex slightly as the panel was placed back, the plates folding into one briefly, then folding into a more relaxed position.

"Bet this is really different than your time in Lightspeed," Clint commented as he took the welding mask to the side, along with his gloves.

"Times change. Technology evolves," Fairweather replied, glancing at Clint briefly, before her eyes returned to the Silver suit. Her hand moved along the hollow suit briefly, lingering over the right chest plate, and her eyes seemed to soften ever so slightly. "Last time I worked on a Silver Ranger suit.. I never imagined it'd be my brother who would be the one to use it. Back then, it was so much more delicate. We could only contain it all within a Morpher, about the size of a phone. Really delicate stuff. Now though.. the whole suit is the Morpher."

A small chuckle came from her at that moment, drawing a confused look from Clint. "And that's funny.. how?"

"Just.. it's funny how this technology can change in just a few years. And it makes it so much easier to get repairs done…you have no idea how difficult it is to repair the finest wires imaginable under a microscope, using robot arms."

Clint nodded slightly, still not finding what was funny about all this, but said, "So, anything else left to repair on this thing?"

"Now that's done, all that's left is to make a few adjustments to the crystal's alignment," Fairweather informed, gathering a few tools, designed for finer adjustments, and moved back so she could grab the hydraulic lift.

Hooking up under the arms, with a low whirling noise sounded out, the Silver suit was slowly raised from the ground, coming to a stop when the feet were just about to leave the surface.

Now standing level with the suit, Fairweather handed Clint a pair of blackout glasses, saying, "You're not going to want to look at it directly without these."

Clint took the glasses and put them on, and after Fairweather had done the same, she pressed a small panel just beside the central plate and, with a faint _hiss,_ the panel opened up. Almost instantly, the semi-dark room was illuminated in a bright light, catching the attention of the others in the warehouse, who immediately turned away at the sheer brightness.

"So, how are we going to adjust the alignment?" Clint asked, making it seem like he had a good idea of what was going on.

"I just need you to hand me tools. This is a very, _very_ delicate procedure, and I don't want anything going wrong," Fairweather replied, clearing her throat awkwardly as she handed the toolbox to Clint, and carefully took a large pair of thin-ended tweezers, and moved in closer to the source of the light.

Holding onto her forearm with the other hand, Fairweather slowly breathed as she carefully began making the pre-planned adjustments. Moving one wire a few millimetres up, making slight adjustments to how the metal frame was holding the crystal, making sure to take her time and asked for each tool she needed.

Finally, she made the final adjustment, very, very carefully moving the crystal around a fraction, making sure it stayed in the frame that held it in place. Releasing a sigh of relief she didn't know she was holding, Fairweather handed the last of the tools to Clint and pressed the same panel she'd use to open it.

As the panel closed up again, sealing the crystal away, she removed her glasses and said, "Well, that's all I can do for the time being."

"I'm guessing you did well. We'll have to see when we g-" Clint began, but found himself cut off when a sudden alarm started blaring throughout the warehouse.

Merely seconds after the alarms started, E came bursting in through the double doors, accompanied by a pair of armed Division 13 soldiers.

"Demon presence detected in the city. I need to suit up," E informed, stepping up to Fairweather and Clint, the two guards standing either side of the doors to the warehouse. "With any luck, the Rangers will show up. Are the adjustments made?"

"The adjustments have been completed. You should have quicker reaction times now, and the suit itself should help you move faster," Fairweather informed, stepping aside as the other scientists moved in. E removed his jacket, setting it to one side.

"Thank you. Clint, perhaps you could help Fairweather in going through her research, seeing if we can try and pinpoint a good location and idea where these Demons are coming from," E suggested, approaching the suit as several of the scientists pressed the suit in specific places. Opening up each section in turn, E stepped forward, turning around and backing into the suit.

"Yes sir," Clint responded sharply, standing at attention briefly before gesturing for Fairweather to lead the way. The two left just as the other scientists began closing E inside the suit, making some final adjustments to make the suit comfortable to wear.

"And keep an eye on those other asteroids that we've detected."

* * *

" _Demon presence located!"_ MUTT alarmed, the screens before him suddenly flashing red and switching from the calm, white analysis tables he had been looking at. Isaac and Tanya, who had returned to the main Command Room after showering and changing into a fresh pair of clothes, were quickly drawn away from their game of cards at the blaring alarms.

"Where they at?" Isaac asked, as MUTT began scurrying through the multiple maps on screen, silencing the alarms as he tried to find the source.

" _Station District. Early reports show a passenger locomotive has been turned over, possible fatalities,"_ MUTT informed, tapping keys rapidly. It was a miracle that the keys hadn't been forced out of their place on the keyboard yet.

The keys seemed to have faded long ago, though.

"Great, not even there yet and we're going to get the blame on any deaths," Tanya commented sourly, shaking her head briefly before folding her arms. "So, what, sending us on ahead and the others get sent after us?"

"That is unlikely."

Both teens turned at Savage's sudden voice, which hide the sound of the sliding doors as he entered, accompanied by the other three. Matt seemed to have a number of new bruises across his arm, and his hair seemed a bit more ruffled than earlier.

"It seems you've already forgotten the lessons I've taught you for the past few weeks. You must work together more often," Savage informed, approaching the screen and assessing the situation, giving the teens a brief moment to interact.

"Kicked his ass?" Tanya asked Kyle.

"That'd be me," Natalie replied, smirking smugly when Matt threw a dirty look her way.

"Eat shit, Nat."

"I think she already made you do that, Matt," Kyle commented aptly, earning a few chuckles from the others.

"By the looks of it, you're dealing with Batibat and Wolkeins, along with a new Demon. She-Demon.. by the looks of it, Fra-Be."

"Fra.. Bae? 10,000 years before the invention of the Internet, yet they still use shitty ass names like that," Isaac said in mock disbelief, hands dropping to his side briefly.

"Do not think lightly of this She-Demon - she wasn't known as the Witch of the Red Mist for no reason. She could turn Warriors of the same faction against one another at a flick of her wrist. Many of my kind fell against their brethren's blade. I advise caution when facing her," Savage warned, turning back around and approaching the teens, stopping just before the five, looking between each of them. "Now go."

"Still going to need some practice on that motivational speaking. Getting there, but I've heard better from films," Kyle commented dryly, but quickly fell silent when he heard the wolf release low, but irritated, growls. "Well, ready guys? To head into curtain death, possibly by each other?" Isaac asked, as Savage shifted away, back to the computers with MUTT.

"Just another day working with you guys," Tanya replied, smirking away as Isaac looked back, returning the smirk.

"Ready?" Isaac repeated, this time, raising his Howler across his wrist; the gem beneath the wolf-head cover glowing a faint red, along with a low growl.

"Ready," The other four confirmed.

"United, we Howl!"

They managed to time it just right, so that as the light of their transformation into their Warrior armour, MUTT finished the teleportation sequence, enveloping them in new light and sending them away to the location of the Demon attack.

* * *

By the time they arrived at the station-MUTT had miscalculated the exact location for the teleporter in the hurry Savage had put them under, electing a few snide comments from Matt and Kyle, and Natalie surprisingly a great deal more damage had been done to the station than the last report.

As they walked through the entrance to the station, stepping over shattered glass mixed with blood stains, the five looked around. They saw further blood staining across the ground and walls, smearing the signs to identify platforms, along with a few bodies littered on the ground.

Natalie slowly walked over to one body, kneeling down beside it as she slowly turned it onto its back.

" _Shit,"_ She uttered under her breath, looking away when she saw the face-side of the body.

It looked as though someone had actually managed to rip the lower jaw from the head, tearing flesh and bone to do so. As such, blood was still oozing from the gaping wound, the tongue was just hanging limply, nowhere to go, and saliva drooling into the blood, mixing in a pool beside the body.

" _Fucking hell,"_ Kyle muttered as he knelt beside Natalie, the two glancing at one another briefly before he helped her to her feet again. Taking a few moments, Natalie quickly recovered and they re-joined the other three, moving deeper into the ruined station.

Alarms started audibly sounding, emergency alarms, as they walked through the ruined barriers, heading towards the actual platforms.

" _This place is usually busy as fuck.. where the fuck is everyone?"_ Matt asked, looking around as they climbed the stationary escalators, moving around another couple of bodies leaning over the barriers.

" _Well, I'd say half of them had the sense to get the fuck out when shit went down, and I'd say a good few unlucky motherfuckers were the ones we found jawless,"_ Tanya replied, climbing up the other escalator, usually going down. By the time they reached the top, leading to the platforms, they heard the low grunts and groans that they knew were from Wolkeins.

 _Heads up, looks like we found them fuck sticks,"_ Isaac alerted, picking up to a light jog, making his way to the source of the sounds, followed by the others. It took them barely a minute to come across the Wolkeins, and quickly drew their Wolf Blades when they did see them.

Crawling over the side of an upturned passenger train, small fires breaking out at random spots, all it took was one of the dull-gold armoured ones to see them and let out a war cry-like groan, alerting the others to the presence of the enemy.

"Well, well, what have we here?" Batibat mused, coming into view, between the Wolkeins and the Warriors, one hand on her hip, the other twirling a dagger around her fingers.

" _I see you didn't try and clear up the place before we came here,"_ Matt commented, adjusted his fingers around his Blades' handle.

"I have my orders, involving you five, and I intend on fulfilling those orders," Batibat responded, raising her hand from her hip, and snapped her fingers. A portal tore through the air beside Batibat, and a figure walked through it at her command.

The figure was more on the feminine side, slender legs and a somewhat smaller waist, at least compared to a male. But it was mostly covered up by a mixture of brown leather and dulled metal armour, wrapping around her torso, waist, legs and arms. A leather strapped secured a metal plate around her shoulder, leaving the other shoulder bare. This, along with her upper arms and a small strip around her waist, exposed the dark-green, blending into a lighter green, reptilian skin beneath. This ended at her head, where a thin, mohawk hair style ran down her head, continuing down into a pony tail.

Dark yellow eyes darted between each Warrior, narrowed slits for pupils, and her clawed fingers drummed around the carved, ancient-looking wooden staff. Several designs carved into the staff length, and topping off the staff, a primitive looking skull, its jaw forced open, painted with what looked like dry blood, mixed with other paints.

" _Damn.. lizard lady? Fuck yeah,"_ Matt commented among the five.

" _Seriously?"_ Natalie asked.

" _What? We all have weird fucking fetishes,"_ Matt responded, turning back to the Wolkeins and Demons. The Wolkeins seemed to growl and hiss, their bodies constantly moving. As if holding in all the undead energy was trying to get out of them.

"I grow weary of you chatter, humans. Fra-Be, destroy them," Batibat ordered.

"Yes, Mistressssss," The Lizard Demon hissed, a forked tongue flicking between her lipless mouth, raising a hand from her side, and gestured forward. At the command, the Wolkeins charged forward, wielding their weapons as they rushed the Warriors.

" _Same shit, different day,"_ Tanya grunted, bringing her blade up to grab it with both hands, and with the other four, rushed at the Wolkeins, ready to spill Demon blood.

Blades struck through bodies, tearing Wolkeins in half, green blood splattering everywhere, layering over the already dried human blood stains. Some Wolkeins lost their arms, electing screeches of pain before they attempted to attack again, only to have their heads sliced off, and were then sent flying across the platform by a roundhouse kick.

Matt and Kyle both took on a couple of Wolkein Commanders, sparks flying from when steel made contact. Kyle quickly blocked one sword as it came swinging in, and out of the corner of his eye, saw that the other tried to strike him when he was occupied. Luckily, Matt had moved in and raised his blade, blocking the strike from landing. The two remained locked in the sword blocks, straining to keep the Wolkeins busy. They growled and snarled, pressing forward on their blades.

They didn't even see the blur of white streak behind them, slicing clean through the necks.

Their bodies fell to the ground, heads somewhere else entirely, Matt and Kyle looked to Natalie, the three exchanging brief nods, before becoming occupied once more with attacking the hordes of Wolkeins that tried attacking them.

Elsewhere, further down the platform, Tanya and Isaac were slicing through Wolkeins rapidly, one would duck when the other swung their sword where they had been standing, catching a Wolkein off guard. Driving an elbow into one Wolkeins' face, Isaac drove his blade through its gut. Jerking to the side, it sliced clean through its side tearing flesh, spilling gallons of blood over the platform and his armour.

" _I'm going for the Lizard,"_ Isaac shouted after slicing through another three Wolkeins, throwing a punch at a fourth as it came to attack.

" _Get the bitch!"_ Tanya replied, side stepping as a Wolkein came at her; sticking her leg out, causing it to trip up and tumble across the ground.

He didn't need telling twice. Isaac ducked and dodged several Wolkeins, even managing to flip over a Wolkein as it sliced through the air he'd previously occupied. Slicing across its head as he came landing back down, Isaac began charging towards the she-Demon.

The reptilian eyes watched the Red Warrior as he drew closer, and a smirk crossed the she-Demon's scaled lips. "Thisss should be fun," She said to herself, side glancing at Batibat, the two perching themselves on the side of the upturned rail car. With a slight nod from the Warlord, she leapt off the passenger car, landing gracefully on the platform.

Using her staff as a weapon, Fra-Be blocked several of Isaac's initial attacks; taking small steps back with each exchange. Isaac tried several methods of attacking, head on strikes, strikes from the side, even stabbing motions. All these attacks, yet no hits landed; Fra-Be managed to block or deflect them all. And she did it all with that smug smirk across her scaled face.

And that just pissed Isaac off all the more.

" _Fight back, you lizard fuck!"_ He shouted, taking a leap back and adjusted his hold on the blade, crossing his chest defensively.

Fra-Be slowly rose to her feet, adjusting her stance just a little narrower, and that smirk across her scales. "Very well.. on your grave, be it," She hissed, her forked tongue flicking out briefly, before she raised her staff and placed it in front of her. Though it was faint at first, Isaac could see a red fog forming in the open skull of her staff.

"Du digas ast!" The lizard chanted, waving her hand before and over the skull on her staff, drawing the dark red fog from the skull; making it thicker and more noticeable. The smoke swirled around her hand briefly, before she flicked it towards Isaac. Like a bullet, the fog went streaking through the air, directly at Isaac.

He managed to dodge the streak of fog as it came at him, but quickly turned when he heard an explosion ring out behind it. Apparently, that spell created explosion, big enough to rip through one of the upturned passenger cars. Batibat wasn't present, so she must have either moved or it was a different rail car.

Turning back to the she-Demon, he commented, _"Well.. now I don't feel as bad hitting a bitch."_ Twirling his blade around, he brought the blunt edge to his shoulder, and ran back towards the she-Demon.

While the two fought, Isaac trying to strike her with blade, and she threw spell after spell at him, the rest of the Warriors finished off the rest of the Wolkeins, stabbing the last, screeching Wolkein through the head and the chest. Natalie delivering the finish blow, cutting through its neck.

" _C'mon, before Isaac gets himself killed!"_ Tanya called, gesturing for the three to follow her, as they ran towards the other end of the platform, to where the other fight was taking place.

But they didn't reach it.

Batibat landed on the ground before them, rising from the kneeling position, and drew her daggers from her sleeves. "I believe a rematch would be in order," She hissed, her pupils narrowing dangerously on the Warriors, specifically Tanya and Matthew. "I have a score to settle."

" _Still sore about getting your ass kicked?"_ Matt taunted, flipping his blade around and holding it offensively, glaring at the she-Demon beneath his visor.

" _We'll gladly repeat that,"_ Tanya added, gesturing for Tyler and Natalie to begin flanking; the two slowly moved around either side, holding their blades, ready to strike if needed.

Batibat just smirked, slowly walking towards the teens, glancing either side as the Black and White Warriors circled around her. When she came to a stop, she was enclosed in a circle formed by the Warriors, all weapons drawn, ready to attack her at a moments' notice.

But that moment was postponed briefly.

" _Warriors!"_ MUTT's voice came over the comms. _"The Silver Warriors' energy trace is approaching your location."_

" _Great, just what we need,"_ Matthew muttered under his breath.

" _Well, where is he then?"_ Kyle asked, looking around briefly.

There was a brief moment of silence that followed, before a response finally came. _"Directly above your position."_

Four sets of eyes widened, and glanced at their fellow Warriors; Batibat sensed something was wrong with them when they suddenly ducked, dropping to the ground in the process. A sudden whirling of energy sounded above her, out of sight thanks to the cover over the platform.

But she quickly made herself vanish into mist when the plastic and wooden arch shattered, sending it scattering everywhere as a large mass crashed through, firmly landing on the ground she once occupied. The impact resulted in large cracks forming in the concrete, even going so far as to crack parts of the track. Dust flooded the scene, temporarily reducing vision to nothing, until the helmets' thermal vision kicked in, and they all spotted the same thing.

" _Shit, it's him,"_ Tanya said, quickly getting to her feet.

But she barely readied herself when he rushed at her in a blur, grabbing her by the throat, slamming her back against the nearest pillar. The force sent her blade flying, scattering across the ground as she choked. She tried to tear his hand from her throat, but his force seemed unmatched. She tried shouting, telling, _either,_ the others where they had to hit.

" _Your little advantage isn't going to work this time, Ms. Steele,"_ The Silver Ranger commented, seemingly able to read what she was going to say. Her head turned sharply when he spoke, and he felt her struggle even more beneath his tightened grip.

His death grip only faltered when one of the others slammed into his side, knocking him off and releasing Tanya. While she was recovering, gasping for breath and rubbing her throat, Matt and Kyle quickly moved in to block him, shifting to be on the offensive.

" _I held back last time, didn't want to hurt you too bad,"_ The Silver Ranger commented, drawing its wrist blades. _"Now.. you're going to feel this power."_

" _Good luck on that,"_ Kyle spat back, before he and Matt quickly moving in, and the three quickly began exchanging blocks. Electricity arced around their blades as they struck one another, bodies weaving around to avoid strikes, Kyle even managing to perform a quick backflip to avoid a swinging strike from the Silver.

As the three continued to fight, moving down the platform as it progressed, Natalie quickly helped Tanya to her feet and supported her against another pillar. It only took a few minutes for Tanya to say, _"I'm good,"_ and grab her blade. With a final shake of her head, the two females joined the fight against the Silver Ranger.

Even though it was four on one now, the Silver Ranger was still putting up a good fight, kicking Matt to the ground, flicking one wrist to block an attack from Kyle, and kicking forward to knock a blade off course. Giving Kyle a firm head-butt, pushing his wrist to get the blade off, he turned his attacks on the females, managing to deflect their attacks easily, knocking blades of course.

By the time he landed a kick to Natalie's chest, sending her flying backwards into a pillar, Matt had recovered and assisted Tanya. But he quickly received a kick to the helmet, using his head as a base to flip over a blade swing from Tanya, resulting in the Silver Ranger landing behind her, and Matt falling back on the ground with a partially cracked visor. Tanya turned around, and barely raised her blade in time to block both wrist blades striking her, electrical sparks flying from the contact, forcing his weight against her.

She tried to maintain her stance, but found herself dropping to one knee in her efforts to create a solid base. She glared up at the Silver Ranger, her visor and his individual, red-lensed eyes, separated by a few inches and their crossed blades.

" _You got the one-up on me last time.. that's not going to happen again,"_ The Silver Ranger commented, clenching his fists as he pressed down harder, Tanya's arms giving off the faintest quiver in her attempts to maintain a base.

" _We'll.. figure something out,"_ Tanya grunted, straining to keep her hold up. The Silver Ranger continued to push down on her, but just before he was about to finish her off, the sound of grunts and explosions in the distant. He looked up, seeing the fight going on at the other end of the platform. A strange, dark green Demon and…

" _Red Ranger,"_ He said aloud, driving his knee into Tanya's helmet and throwing her back. Stepping over her writhing body, he quickly turned into a silver blur and rushed at the other fight. Leaving the other Warriors scattered across the platform.

From her new position on another platform cover, Batibat knelt down as she took in the fight she had just witness. "Hmm…" She muttered to herself, gently stroking her cheek, mindful of her fine, sharp nails. "Interesting… The Master will wish to hear of this."

Back with Isaac and Fra-Be, the two had moved down the platform further, several newly lit fires scattered across the destroyed station. Both were too engrossed with avoiding each other's' attacks, that they didn't notice the blur of silver streaking across the platform towards them.

Not until it collided with the pair, grabbing them by the waists and, along with itself, threw the pair into the nearest passenger car. Glass shattering around them as they separated down the passenger car, Isaac and the Silver Ranger rolling down either side of the railcar, and Fra-Be stationary in the centre of the car.

"You Warriors can't even begin to imagine the sssscale of what you are trying to stop. But, it is unlikely that you will live to sssee it," Fra-Be hissed, her tongue flickering dangerously as she raised both her hands, her staff simply floating before her, levitating from the ground.

"Vinaquirem igira-kair!" She hissed, rubbing her hands against one another briefly before facing the palm of each at either Warriors; small balls of fire could be seen forming.

" _Shit,"_ Isaac said bluntly, dropping to the ground quickly.

The Silver Ranger barely dropped down in time as fire erupted from the Demon's palms; streaking down both sides of the passenger car, igniting the seats and what bodies remained. Several more windows shattered as the flames shot past them. The flames carried on over either Warrior, tearing through the torn passenger car doors.

" _Isaac… Isaac, come in!"_ Tanya's voice said over his Howler, her voice frantic, as if running while she was talking.

But no response came. Isaac remained flat on the ground, his breathing frantic and agitated. It must have gone through the Howler, because Tanya gave a response. _"Shit, we're coming!"_

" _What's up with him?"_ Matt asked as the four quickly ran towards the rail car they had seen the Silver Ranger tackle Isaac and the she-Demon into.

" _You really think he recovered for that shit that happened to him? Nearly getting killed and half his face going all shit. That's going to leave you scarred,"_ Tanya responded gruffly, rushing at the now smouldering passenger car.

The flames continued to spread, licking the walls and ceiling of the passenger car. While the Silver Ranger and Red Warriors' helmets filtered out the smoke, Isaac's heartrate was going through the roof and his breathing was out of sync and wild.

His vision began to distort slightly, taking his away from the rail car, with the she-Demon standing before him, fires spewing from her palms. He was taken back, months ago, to their second fight…

Pinned to the ground, fires enveloping him, burning him despite the suit.. the pain exploding in his face…

A few gruff, low grunts came from Isaac, as he began attempts to crawl away from the flames, muttering, _"No.. no…"_

But as he attempted to go further down the passenger car, the flames seemed to follow him; almost encasing him in a flaming coffin. Flames and smoke revolved around him, encircling him tightly. He could feel the heat beneath his armour.

" _NO!"_

He suddenly shouted, turning into a blur as he rushed forward; cutting through the flames and smoke, and collided with the she-Demon, the momentum carrying them both down the other end of the train, smashing into the Silver Ranger in the progress.

The dividing door at the end of the passenger car burst open, the three beings falling out, rolling across the tracks. While the Silver Ranger and Fra-Be were quick to get back to their feet and resume their close-quarters fighting, Isaac continued rolling, stumbling in his attempts to get to his feet.

He grabbed onto the platform, his grip twitching slightly as he tried to find something to grab onto; his breathing ragged, and looking around slowly. He could see the others running towards where he was, not fast enough to become blurs, but pretty damn fast compared to human standards, but before they could reach him, they were stopped.

" _Fucker!"_ Matt exclaimed as he stumbled back from whatever he had hit, shaking his head as he stepped forward again. His fists slammed against the invisible shield, but he couldn't get through. The others made their own attempts, but also failed to break through.

Isaac looked to the side slowly, and saw Fra-Be finishing a short sequence of her strange hand movements; a deathly glare across her narrowed eyes, hissing dangerously.

"I will let you finisssh each other, Warriorss," She hissed, grabbing her float staff and striking the blunt end to the ground. Dark red mist started to form at the base, slivering up the staff, looking as though it was a snake. Upon wrapping around the skull at the top of the staff, it fed into the open mouth and, seemingly giving off a low hiss, and began flooding into the enclosed area.

" _Isaac!"_ Tanya shouted, slamming her fists into the invisible shield; creating barely visible ripples with her strikes. She dropped to one knee slightly, trying to get level with Isaac, as the red fog started to fill in from the top, and moved downward slowly.

Pretty soon, the red mist enclosed the entire area; looking like a half orb of solid red. _"MUTT, can you get Isaac?"_ Kyle asked frantically, pressing several buttons on his Howler.

" _Comms are getting jammed; nothing we can do,"_ Savage's voice came over the comms, as the others turned desperately to the encased mist.

* * *

"Vitals are down! Nothing coming through!" One of the scientists called in alarm, rapidly tapping commands into his keyboard, glancing between it and the computer screen. Several other scientists were working frantically, trying to get through; but all attempts led to the same, static filled images and systems starting to crash.

At that moment, Clint and Fairweather came bursting through the double doors, Fairweather quickly moving to one of the nearest computers, and Clint demanded, "What's happening?"

"One of the Demons released a gas attack; we were unable to determine the chemical signature before the vitals went haywire," One of the scientists informed, working rapidly to try and get the vitals back on the screen.

"E? E!" Clint shouted into one of the microphones, gripping the microphone with such force that it looked as though he may break it.

But nothing. Just.. static.

* * *

Finally, the solid mist of the encased area began to disperse; from the top at first, and slowly feeding down right to the bottom. By the time it had dispersed enough for them to see, the shield had given way, letting the Warriors quickly rush forward to check on Isaac.

They found his body close to where they had been standing, lying still and limp across the ground. Tanya and Kyle quickly rolled him onto his back, and Tanya set to work looking over his vitals and trying to wake him. Meanwhile, Matt had seen something else.

" _Looks like he survived as well,"_ Matt commented, shifting in front of Isaac's body, as he moved to be on the defensive when he saw the Silver Ranger. Unlike Isaac, the Silver Ranger had merely dropped to a kneeling stance, slowly shaking his head, as if trying to clear his helmet of the red fog. He slowly rose to his feet, yet was still bent over slightly, one hand to his helmet and the other on his knee.

" _C'mon, Isaac... Wake up, damn it!"_ Tanya muttered to herself, and the unmoving body of the Warrior beneath her, shaking his shoulders slightly. But as she spoke, she missed an incoming transmission. _"Say again,"_ She asked, raising one hand to the side of her helmet.

" _Step away from Isaac! He's been infected with Fra-Be's spells!"_ Savage's voice all but shouted over the comms, causing Tanya to shake her head, wincing beneath the helmet.

" _Jesus Christ, Savage. Turn the fucking volume down!"_ She shouted down the comms, but was quickly taken away from her conversation when a hand suddenly wrapped around her forearm. Looking down, she saw Isaac slowly pulling himself up from the ground. But something was wrong.

Strangely, he was.. actually growling; a low, mechanically-altered vibration through his system, and into Tanya's at the same time. She tried pulling her arm free, but his grip didn't let up. And there was this strange glowing beneath his visor, forming two vague circles where his eyes should be.

" _Isaac?"_ She asked slowly, finally managing to wrench her arm free, taking a few steps back and stood up as Isaac rose to his feet quickly.

But no response came. He merely turned around, in silence, and faced the now standing Silver Ranger; though it was faint, and partially hidden by the pre-existing red lenses, Tanya could swear that his eyes were glowing a dark red as well…

A sudden snarl ripped through Isaac's suit, as he began pressing down on the Silver Ranger, shoulder past Matthew in the process, and soon broke into a sudden sprint. Jumping at the last second, bringing a power kick to the Silver Ranger. But he just missed, as he stepped back and the two engaged in vicious combat, throwing punches and kicks at one another, Isaac punching clear through another support pillar.

" _What do we do? Do we help them?"_ Natalie asked, looking among the others as they gathered together, watching the two Warriors, seemingly possessed into fighting one another.

" _Intervene with the two, and you will more than likely get killed by Isaac,"_ Savage informed, the sound of keys tapping in the background. _"Try to keep them apart, they will more than likely tear the entire Territory apart to continue their fight; probably destroy it during their fight."_

" _Great options. Anything that, I don't know.. doesn't involving either us fucking dying or the city getting fucked?"_ Matt asked.

" _Your only other option would be to find and destroy Fra-Be. Destroy her, the spell will be cancelled out."_

" _Great, something. Any way for us to find her?"_

" _Give us a moment. We're trying to give an area where she could be,"_ MUTT informed.

" _Oh great. No, really, take your fucking time,"_ Tanya replied hotly.

" _I would advise that one of you remains with the fight, and keep the others updated,"_ MUTT advised, before adding, _"Location of the Demons in your Realm sent to you."_

" _Get going, and fucking deal with that Bitch,"_ Tanya ordered the others, getting a few looks for her rough tone, though quickly threw a glare at them.

That was enough for them to get going, following the artificial scent trail, leading them to the Demons.

Tanya turned back to the fight, and was alarmed to find that the fight wasn't taking place before her; instead, it had moved down the platform, onto the tracks, tearing through an upturned passenger car, and further down the tracks, a trail of destruction left in their wake.

" _Tanya, alert. There appears to be more asteroids just about to enter Earth's atmosphere,"_ MUTT informed as Tanya ran after the fighting pair. Torn steel beams and splintered wood were ripped from the gravel covered track beds as she stepped over them.

" _And you're telling me this because…? I've got bigger shit to worry about now, MUTT,"_ Tanya responded sharply, ducking to avoid a flying metal beam that came hurtling her way.

" _From what I can gather, together with the projected trajectory of said asteroids, and the increasing chatter around Pax Valley, the asteroids seem to be, somehow, producing the same technical signature as the Silver Warrior."_

" _How the fuck is that possible?"_

" _The Silver Howler was banished from Earth, accompanied by the Wolf Zords linked with it,"_ Savage's voice cut in.

Tanya faltered slightly, stumbling a bit before regaining her composure and continued running. _"Well, shit.. so how much trouble will we be in if they get their hands on the Zords?"_

" _They have a very real risk of destroying your Wolves,"_ Savage responded grimly.

" _Shit.. how long have we got?"_ Tanya asked.

There was a moments' silence, before MUTT responded. _"Approximately 20 minutes."_

* * *

"20 minutes and counting to impact!" Another scientist called, prompting Clint to move over to their monitor, accompanied by Fairweather, the three tracking the series of asteroids' movements; streaking across the atmosphere of the Earth, bearing down on the United States.

"This doesn't make sense. Earlier, it was tracked to strike the middle of Russia. Now, it's changed course in such a way, something must have changed them," The scientist commented, looking between the other two.

"Any idea?" Clint asked, glancing across at Fairweather.

"Well.. look at it this way. Two asteroid strikes within two weeks of one another, don't you think it's coincidental? Perhaps they're linked to one another; maybe it's the Silver Crystal that's changing the course of these asteroids?"

"You're saying that these asteroids may be linked to the one that brought the Crystal to Earth?" Clint clarified. "What could they be then?"

Fairweather glanced to the screen, showing digital readings of the asteroids. One larger and the other two just a bit smaller than the other.

"Maybe… I don't know. We'll have to see how this plays out."

"Sir, we're starting to get reports on the asteroids," The scientist informed, bringing up a couple of new tabs to show Clint. "It appears as though the asteroids are starting to break up."

"Can we get locations? Last thing we need is the media having a field day about us trying to grab them all," Clint asked, looking between that screen and another scientist working on getting E's vitals up and running again.

"We've sent men out to the targeted locations. It appears most of them are rural and remote areas," the scientist informed.

"Good, good," Clint muttered under his breath, nodding a bit before his attention was redirected when the other scientist called for him.

"We've got E's vitals back on line. Sir, you need to take a look at this!"

Clint quickly moved over, leaving Fairweather with the other scientist to keep an eye on the trajectory of the asteroids, and looked over the shoulder of the scientist. He saw the screens had returned from static, but several things were cause for concern. For one, several of his vitals, including his increased pulse rate and his hyperventilating-rate of breathing, that something was seriously wrong.

"Blood pressures' through the roof, heart rate is way higher than it should be, even when fighting.. what's changed?" Clint asked, glancing at the scientist.

"I'm not sure sir, we haven't been able to recover the cameras yet. But trust us, we're working on getting them up and working again," The scientist assured, briefly glancing aside at Clint but quickly returned his effort to his rapid repairs.

"Sir!" Clint turned to the first scientist, who had had his position taken over by Fairweather, seeing her tap away at the keyboard rapidly. "The asteroids! They're breaking up; the.. they're…."

"They're Zords," Fairweather confirmed, glancing across at Clint. "Three of them."

"Shit…" Was all Clint could think to say.

* * *

A thunderous, near deafening screech starting to fill the air around Pax Valley, several thousand windows shattered, and tall buildings started to quake slightly. Onlookers came from inside houses and businesses, to see a small pod of large asteroids streaking across the blue sky. Some sections cracked off, spiraling out of control and slamming into any unfortunate skyscraper that got in its way.

Screams and shouts filled sections of the city, explosions shaking the sides of buildings as a mixture of rocks, steel and glass rained down on them. The police lines went haywire from different sections of the city, shouting down the phone to be heard over the hysteria.

As the breaking down pods continued to bear down across the city, they passed over the ruined remains of the train station. Tanya found her hearing barely surviving the enhanced screeching, bringing her hands to the sides of her helmet, in a vague attempt to block the sound. But through the severe screeching, she thought she heard…

" _No.. can't be…"_ Tanya said to herself, lowering her hands and raising her gaze, watching as the asteroids came screeching into view - hurtling through the sky, breaking up more and more, glowing burning white, the smaller sections breaking off quickly cooling down to a bright red and orange and spinning out of control.

" _Howling?"_

One of the smaller asteroids suddenly broke apart entirely, large chunks of rock flying through the air, revealing what it had been surrounding.

The size of the Zord looked no bigger than Tanya's Gamma Wolf Zord, but its colour scheme was drastically different. With a mainly black colour scheme, with a slight hint of silver accenting across the sides of the body and the crown of the head, and its eyes were a deep red. Its tail lashed wildly as it flew through the air, crashing through an unlucky skyscraper as it came crashing to the ground.

Two more massive impacts shook the ground around them, causing even Isaac and E to separate from their fight. Distracted from their fight momentarily, the two males, along with Tanya, stared up as three masses rose from the ruined remnants of steel and dirt.

Along with the Gamma-sized Black Wolf Zord, two more Zords rose from their not-so-graceful landing. One seemed a similar size to the Black Zord, while the third seemed three times the size of the other two. The other smaller size Zord was a dirty white all over, save for the accenting on the sides and the crown of the head being silver, and a similarly coloured set of eyes, a vicious, metallic snarl ripping from it.

It was quickly silenced, when the larger Zord growled down at it; this one had very few accenting across the many metal plates covering its body, and was entirely silver. The only difference in colour were over the lower legs, which had panels of black metal, and around its neck. Unlike the other two Zords, its eyes were a dark green, seemingly sparking in the sunlight.

The three Zords stood menacingly over the crash site, thankfully, they had broken up so much during their entry into the planets' atmosphere, there was no serious impact. Meaning, no impact damage and no extra levelled buildings. In addition, the Zords had landed _just_ beyond the borders of the city, yet saving more buildings and lives.

" _Shit…"_ Tanya said under her breath, taking a small, slow step back as she raised her Howler. _"MUTT…"_

" _The Lone Silver Zords,"_ Savage's voice replied over the comms, a slight tint of a growl passing through his words. _"It seems they followed the crystal."_

A sudden growl tore Tanya from the conversation, and saw the results of the latest encounter; the Silver Ranger had head-butted Isaac, sending him stumbling back, giving him enough time to leap into the large Silver Wolf Zord. He entered the head with a brief flash of light on top of the head. Tanya went to assist Isaac, but he was too quick for her.

He had already vanished in a blur of red and silver, and Tanya swore she heard a series of snarls and growls suddenly sound out. _"MUTT, Savage, what the fuck?! You sent the Zords?!"_

" _Isaac would have summoned them if we hadn't sent them, and even I would rather not face a creature possessed by Fra-Be,"_ Savage's voice replied in turn. _"Besides, if he manages to destroy the human and retrieve the Silver Crystal, then I see no harm to doing this."_

" _You're an asshole, Savage,"_ Tanya growled, quickly looking up when their five Zords came into view - sometimes she was really pissed off with Isaac and this just happened to be one of them - the fact he could have them all under his control, should he need to…

Lucky bastard.

* * *

"What's happening? Get us readings on those Zords!" Clint said, his voice raised as he moved between several of the computers, glaring at the people sitting at them. All thoughts on E's orders to go through the files with Fairweather out of his head, as he worked on getting everyone organized.

"Visual readings are coming back online!" One scientist replied, working on his keyboard quickly, multiple tabs opening and closing, numbers flying across the pair of screens. Just as it looked as though the computer was going to blow up under the pressure it was under, a fussy image worked its way onto the monitors.

Clint, Fairweather and the other scientists all grew quiet as they focused on the large screen the fussy images were being projected onto. Static filled it momentarily, before a partially clearer image started to work its way into view. Along with…

"Is… Is that growling?" Clint asked, turning to Fairweather, both standing behind the original computer receiving the images. "He's inside the Zords?"

"One of them," Fairweather corrected, stepping around the computer, taking a few steps towards the larger screen. A concerned, yet slight tint of inquisitiveness, look crossed her eyes, watching as the image came into better view. "How did he manage to do that… We've got nothing on those Zords, and the tech we've added to the Silver Crystal should have made it incompatible…"

"So, what? An act of God got him in that Zord?" Clint asked, arms folding across his chest as he came up beside Fairweather.

She gave a slight roll of her eye in turn, glancing to Clint as she said, "There's no such thing as a God."

"And yet, we're fighting Demons, twice in your case. What was that thing Einstein said? 'Equal and opposite reaction'?"

"That's energy," Fairweather replied lowly, shaking her head slightly. "Hopefully," She added, hoping to draw away from the previous exchange. "Perhaps when this is over, and we've figured out how to get E's readings back on track, we can get these Zords in and have a closer look."

"In the meantime, get his readings back online. And find out what's wrong with E!"

* * *

Isaac snarled from the cockpit of the now combined Wolf Megazord, rising from the ground and shifting the sword into a fighting stance. The feet dug into the ground, turning up concrete and tarmac. But these were little concern to that instinct driving him, watching the three new Zords standing before the formed Megazord.

Those Zords snapped and snarled at the looming Megazord, baring massive, sharp teeth and large, layered ear panels folding back in aggression. With the two smaller Wolves flanking either side of the much larger, Silver Wolf, and Isaac's infected mind knew the Silver Ranger had entered that one.

Within said Silver Wolf Zord, in the black void that was the cockpit of the Zord's head, the Silver Ranger slowly stepped forward. He came to a stop in the supposed middle of the cockpit, and looked around slowly. From the ground before him, a small podium rose up, and came to a stop just about waist-height. Placing either hand on the small, half-sunken orbs at either side of the podium.

Said orbs began to glow a light silver, and the Silver Ranger slowly raised his head. _"Zords, combine."_

Moments later, the two smaller wolves' eyes started glowing a brighter dark red, and with a growl from the pair, leapt into the air.

 **~Megazord Sequence~**

The larger Silver Wolf Zord jumped into the arm, its front shoulders jutting out and rolling so they were in line with the body. The entire body rolled so its underside was facing forwards, revealing the metallic grey and silver armour-style metal plates. The lower jaw of its head folded down, revealing the head, reminiscent of a knight's helmet, with two eye slots.

The two smaller Zords, in unison, had their bodies folded up to coincide with the larger Wolf Zord's transformation. Front legs folded in on themselves, neck folding up, making the head face upwards as it moved into position as either leg. Their tails broke off, flipping away and hovering just above the wrists of the Silver Wolf Zord.

With a faint _hiss_ and shots of steam, the folded back legs of the larger Silver Zord slotted into the White and Black Wolf Zords. This formed a set of legs, adjusting to a better fighting stance. Moving up the body, the tails of the two Zords connected to the silver-and-black plated forearms, bringing both across its chest and striking the pair. The completed Megazord shifted into a fighting stance, light shining off of the eye slots.

 **~Megazord Sequence End~**

Isaac's eyes narrowed, still glowing a dark red, as he focused on the new Megazord standing before his, the pair standing far higher than any of the other buildings could even hope to be. From the ground, several people saw the two Megazord standing towards the edge of the city, phones were pulled out and live streams began.

" _Savage.. we've got a problem,"_ Tanya said slowly, looking between the two from her new position, she had found one of the taller buildings in the close city, standing on the edge. _"Looks like that Silver fucker's got a Megazord."_

" _How? This is impossible; they have literally just arrived on the planet,"_ Savage responded, snarling in anger. With another brief growl, he finally added, _"We'll find out how they've been able to control them so soon. Right now, our hope relies on the others destroying Fra-Be."_

" _Yeah, can't fucking wait,"_ Tanya muttered under her breath, she lowered her Howler, her helmet raising to see the two titans.

This couldn't end well.

* * *

 _ **To Be Continued…**_


	16. Episode 15 - Tooth and Claw, Part 2

Episode 15 – Tooth and Claw, Part 2

The two Megazords stood silently, facing one another, for a few minutes longer, as if waiting for the other to crack and make the first move. The wind was all that made noise that high up, cutting through the sharp edges of the pair, as the sun reflected off the scuffed and dented metal plates.

Finally, Isaac made the first move; the possessed mind, fuelling his anger and rage against the Silver Ranger, moving the Megazord forward. Slow, purposeful steps bringing the two closer, weapons drawn on either side. The Wolf Pack Megazord brought its arms above its head, gripping the Wolf Blade, and brought it down, only to be blocked by one of the Lone Wolf Megazord's arm blades.

A low growl ripping from his throat, Isaac brought one of the Megazord's knees into the Lone Megazord's gut, sending it stumbling back, and quickly advanced to strike again and again. Sparks flew and metal panels dented, even came off entirely, as they fought.

And from her position on the old water tower, Tanya saw the fight entirely as it played out; not that she was willingly just standing by and watching. She tried getting a teleport into the Megazord, but MUTT and Savage had outright refused to send her to join Isaac. She even tried pressing a few buttons on her Howler, but MUTT must've locked her out. _"Dammit, you scrap pile!"_ She growled in frustration, pacing back and forth briefly. _"Alright, fine! Where are the others at? If we're gonna kill this bitch, I want in!"_

" _I have been given specific instructions from Savage to keep your eyes on this new Megazord; last thing we need is the Wolf Zords damaged by a sudden surprise attack,"_ MUTT informed.

"… _It'd make more fucking sense to get rid of the bitch that started that fight in the first fucking place! Now, you're going to transport me to their place, or so help me God, when I get back to the Den, Savage being pissed off will be the least of your worries!"_ Tanya snapped, raising her voice more-so when loud clashes echoed above her.

There was a short pause between Tanya's small rant, and MUTT's response, before she eventually got the response she was looking for. A short series of tapping echoed down the comms, before MUTT finally responded. _"The coordinates for their location has been sent to your Howler and visor. You should be able to find them."_

" _See, was that really that hard?"_ Tanya asked, smirking smugly under her helmet before cutting off comms quickly. She gave one last look at the two battling Megazords, specifically on their Megazord, before she jumped down onto the road and began tearing through the city.

A yellow blur streaked through the city, tearing up the concrete and tarmac as she ran. When she passed buildings, glass shattered and foundations rumbled. Terrified people within these buildings quickly stopped what they were doing and huddled in a secure area of their rooms.

As she passed one such building, the glass shattering moments after she tore past, but the stuff behind the glass remained relatively undamaged. The shop, a television business, had most of its merchandise intact; though the screens were filled with static momentarily, standard images came back into view.

But this was soon replaced on several of the screens with an emergency alert, the blue background was accompanied by the symbol of the Oval Office. Shortly following this change, a female voice came over the televisions. _"This is an emergency broadcast, directly given by the President of the United States."_

The transmission was quickly changed to that with President Harrison standing behind his presidential podium, one hand gripping either side of the wood.

" _My fellow Americans, especially within the state of Arkansas, there has been events occurring recently that I cannot linger on anymore. The Power Rangers of Pax Valley, having been dubbed 'The Wolf Pack', have caused the deaths of countless civilians. I will not allow this to continue a second longer; I am ordering a city-wide evacuation of Pax Valley, as well as the surrounding cities. We will provide all of the removed inhabitants with temporary homes. Sections of the United States Army will be coming around within the coming hours to assist with the evacuation."_

Harrison paused briefly, bringing one hand up to rub the bridge of his nose.

" _When the Rangers are detained, they_ will _suffer the consequences of their actions. While other groups in the past have been delicate about their actions, with minimal property damage and little to no civilian casualties, this group have thrown protecting civilians to the wind. They will pay, I assure all Americans."_

The emergency broadcast was swiftly cut off after he had finished, returning to static.

* * *

"Fascinating…"

Fairweather had taken a step back from one of the personal computers and observed the large screen, one hand gently up to her chin, watching as they received various livestreams of the Megazord, yet several of them were altered to focus solely on this new Megazord.

"How the hell did those Zords get here? More importantly, those were _our_ modifications to the Silver Crystal. How were they able to alter themselves that quickly to match our designs?" Clint asked, moving around the tech room to several different computer points, looking over each scientists' results for each screen.

"We haven't been able to get an estimated time on how old that Crystal is, but it's more than likely connected to those Zords. And since they've both been in space for who knows how long, so, who knows? Maybe they came into contact with aliens or something - we know them to exist, we've seen them," Fairweather replied, not taking her eyes away from the main screen.

Clint glanced up from looking over one scientist to Fairweather, her seemingly entranced state causing him to roll his eyes slightly. He walked around the desk, standing beside her as his arms crossed his chest. "Because, you've managed to encounter otherworldly beings before, haven't you? Those off-world Power Rangers…"

"They helped us dealing with one of their threats that came to our world," Fairweather replied, partially tearing her eyes away from the screen to glance at Clint. "Barely had a chance to meet them in person?"

"You manage to get some details on their powers? Didn't find anything on the files you sent over ahead of time on these.. Galactic Rangers?"

"No.. Not as much as I would have liked. Just.. they claimed their weapons, swords, gave them this power.. ancient power, they said," Fairweather replied, slowly moving to one computer again to look over a shoulder.

"I think swords can be considered one of the least strange ways Rangers have gained their powers, at least the ones we've got on record... But let's stay focused! What's the progress on getting E's vitals back to normal levels?"

Clint moved to a pair of scientists he had assigned that role, and asked for progress.

"We've tried a number of methods to try and bring E's remaining vitals back to level, but nothing we've pumped into him has worked so far. It's like whatever's happened to him has made him immune to our vaccines," One of them replied with.

"Any idea what we're looking at then?" he asked, leaning on the backs of both chairs, looking between the two.

He expected a more detailed answer than the 'answer' they had given him just now. What he didn't expect was the one that actually gave him the orders.

"Possession."

Both scientists and Clint turned to look at Fairweather, her back still to them. Turning away from the screen of fighting Megazords, facing the three. "I've seen it before.. exactly like this. Happened to.. one of our own.. Ca..." She paused briefly, composing herself, swallowing a small lump in her throat she hadn't known she'd formed.

"Captain Mitchell. Same signs, same symptoms.. and if I had to hazard a guess, some of the vitals that are effecting E effected Captain Mitchell when he was possessed."

"So.. one of them Demons is possessing E. That means we need to get him back here to try and work on a cure to get him back to normal," Clint said, getting to his full height again. "Start the teleporter preparations!"

"The teleporter hasn't been configured to accommodate the size and scale of a Megazord! Not to mention that we don't have anywhere to store it!" Fairweather exclaimed, stepping across to approach Clint.

Clint turned back to face her, the two standing toe-to-toe. A short silence filled the room, not a sound emitting from any of the scientists, as they all slowly turned to watch the pair previously shout at one another. Clint glanced around slowly, seeing the number of eyes watching them, before exhaling and taking a small step back.

"We've got storage, more than big enough to store those three. So, how long would it take to configure the teleport to meet the Zord requirements?" he asked.

Fairweather held the glare for a few moments longer, her jaw tightened together as she tried to get herself together before she spoke. "It would take a couple of hours to make the necessary requirements from scratch for it to work."

Clint raised an eyebrow slightly. "By the way you said that, it makes me think you've already got a base for it." After a brief moment, he added, "The Lightspeed Zords?"

"They're accurate enough to start off with. Just a few adjustments and re-alignments…shouldn't take more than thirty minutes," Fairweather responded, nodding to a pair of scientists. The pair nodded back and exchanged a brief nod as they got up and got together the necessary equipment.

A small twitched at Clint's face, saying, "Thank you for your cooperation. Now, if you'll excuse me…" as he walked off, heading towards a set of doors.

"It was never disclosed to me that you had facilities to store Zords."

Clint came to a stop just before the doors at that accusation. He turned partially, and responded with, "It's a need to know basis. And you now need to know that." With that, he turned back and walked away, parting the double doors and slipping out of sight.

* * *

Tanya finally found the other three fighting Fra-Be, she'd spent the last five minutes tearing through the city, and here they were. Turns out one of the construction sites also doubled as an arena for them to fight. It took a quick glance, and a quick sniff, to tell her that any construction worker was long gone from the site, probably took off the second they arrived on the scene.

" _Bitch gets it this time,"_ Tanya growled under her breath, taking a few steps back for a run up. She rushed forward, leaping off the building and flying towards the fight.

She drove a powerful kick towards Fra-Be after the others backed away, seemingly knowing she was there, and sent the she-Demon flying backwards. Her body collided with a couple of the steel support beams of the new building's frame, and dropped out of sight momentarily.

" _Jeez, Savage actually let you go from his order?"_ Matt asked, he and the others approaching Tanya.

" _Managed to convince MUTT to give me the place you guys were fighting,"_ Tanya replied, glancing over her shoulder before turning around completely.

" _Nicely convinced, or Tanya convinced?"_ Kyle asked, stepping up to gently nudge his shoulder against hers. Tanya returned the shoulder nudge with one of her own, visibly smirking under her helmet.

" _I'll leave that for you to decide. Now, let's take this bitch out while there's still a city to hate us,"_ Tanya semi-ordered.

" _Heads up, we've got incoming,"_ Natalie said, slamming the back of her hand against Kyle's shoulder as she shifted to a defensive stance. The others quickly turned and shifted into similarly defensive stances, Matthew and Tanya even pulling free their Wolf Blades and holding them, ready to strike.

From below the small crest of a hill formed during the reconstruction, Fra-Be came into view, her eyes narrowed into angry slits, hissing up a storm and her staff thrown to one side. The magic energy coming directly from her hands, with what she could see of the staff before it rolled back down the hill, Tanya saw the skull on the end of the staff was cracked.

Her hands encased with the glowing red essence of her magic, the scaled she-Demon hissed, "I am done toying with you Warriorsssss, now you have angered the great Fra-Be!"

Her hands closed into tight fists, and Matthew slowly turned when he thought he heard something behind him. Like.. the sound of grinding metal.

" _Shit, heads down!"_ He exclaimed.

Tanya turned and quickly ducked, barely avoiding the massive steel support beam that had been flying at her from behind. The others all avoided more sets of beams that came flying towards them, Kyle even managing to perform a backflip over the steel beam that came flying towards him.

The beams buckled as they struck the ground, after failing to hit the teens, and went tumbling into the steel skeleton of the building. Echoes of steel warping and groaning vibrated through the air, threatening to topple the entire building if they weren't careful.

Careful…didn't seem to be in Fra-Be's vocabulary, as she continued to throw and pull steel beams at random at the Warriors, the four of them making moves to avoid the beams.

Tanya ducked and slid under beams as they were swarmed around the four, the metal barely missing her as she made steady progress moving towards Fra-Be. Despite her attempts to keep her back, even going so far as to send a smaller steel beam flying towards Tanya's chest, failed time after time, as Tanya grew closer.

"Wolkeinsss!" Fra-Be hissed, snapping one set of fingers just as Tanya reached her and threw a punch, the force sending her reeling back, bending over slightly to recover. But she had summoned them just in time, portals tore through reality and the ground, and Wolkeins came walking/climbing through the portals, daggers, and in the case of the gold-armoured Wolkeins, swords, at the ready. They quickly made for the other three Warriors, who were ready for them and returned the attacks as they came in.

The other Warriors now occupied, that left Fra-Be to face the Yellow Wolf alone, quickly rushing back when she tried to throw punches at her, heading deeper into the construction site. And Tanya followed suit, rushing into the steel skeleton base, barely slow enough to turn herself into a blur.

The others remained in combat with the Wolkeins, Matthew and Kyle slashing and blocking attacks from Wolkeins surrounding them. Matthew kicked back several Wolkeins, hacking the shoulder off of one and striking across its neck. He quickly delivered a roundhouse kick, sending its body flying back while the head was dislodged and sent flying into another Wolkein.

While that Wolkein was sent stumbling back, green blood smeared across its head and armour, Matthew was too occupied watching it and fighting off another Wolkein, he failed to notice a third Wolkein going to strike him in the back.

But all he felt was a strike of green Wolkein blood smear across his shoulder armour, he turned to find its head sliced in half, crumpling to the ground as Natalie came into view. Green blood streaks criss-crossed all along her primarily-white armoured form.

" _I've told you to watch your back, ass-hat!"_ She shouted, kicking another Wolkein back before turning again to glare at Matthew briefly.

" _Oh, piss off! Stop going all Savage on my ass!"_ Matthew threw back, slamming a fist into a Wolkein that tried to sneak up on him. It went stumbling back, falling back again.

" _If you two are quiet done having a dick-swinging contest!"_ Kyle called, stabbing through a pair of Wolkein stomachs and kicking them back into a third and fourth. _"Besides, we all know Natalie would win that!"_

" _Piss off!"_ Matthew shouted, kicking the knee of a Wolkein that tried to attack him again, breaking the leg and forcing it into an awkward angle. The creature made some sort of.. best way to describe it would be a wailing noise, before Matthew stabbed it through the head.

" _And where the hell is Tanya? Thinks she can skip the fighting, huh?"_

" _Open your eyes, dip-shit! Where do you think that slimy she-Demon is?"_ Natalie snapped, dodging another Wolkein, effortlessly side-stepping and driving her elbow into the back of the foot soldiers' head.

Matthew looked around slowly, over the swarms of Wolkeins surrounding them, a sea of grey, black and the occasional gold flash, yet he didn't see any sort of yellow or that weird, lizard green.

"… _Shit."_

* * *

Tanya slowed down slightly upon entering the buildings' skeleton, quickly coming to a stop when she realized she had lost sight of the she-Demon. _It shouldn't have been that easy for her to slip out of sight,_ she thought to herself, looking around slowly as she walked further into the construction site. _Probably some bullshit with those portals._

Her eyes scanned across the surrounded area, it wasn't all that dark, thanks to the sun, but it cast shadows from the surrounding beams, criss-crossing in their shadows, across the surface of the ground. _"Where are you, you son of a bitch?"_ Tanya asked herself, glancing around once again before her eyes lingered on a small bench, tools strewn across haphazardly, but all easily manageable in one hand.

Unlike that cumbersome two-handed blade Savage insisted on them using.

She approached the bench slowly, her gloved and armoured hand gliding over several of the tools before coming to land on a monkey wrench. Her grip tightened, and removed it from the bench.

" _Wretched human!"_

She turned around sharply, only to get struck in the face with an elbow, sending her through the bench, tools flying everywhere, and Tanya lying in the dirt, groaning as she tried to get up. A sudden hiss reminded her of her situation, and she quickly rolled back to avoid the stomping foot, that would have crushed her leg.

Quickly getting back to her feet again, holding the wrench in one hand and bringing her other arm across herself defensively. She kept her full attention on Fra-Be in front of her. The she-Demon seemed to have her full attention on the Warrior before her, her eyes still narrowed into slits and hissing violently.

"Humans! Those retched mutts! You Warriors are nothing more than a thorn in one side!" Fra-Be hissed, her tongue darting between her fangs rapidly.

" _Oh piss off with that act! You fuckers are just lapdogs!"_ Tanya shouted back, before pausing briefly. _"You dare make a pun from that, I swear to Christ, I will tear that tongue from your skull and beat you to death with it!"_

Fra-Be merely snarled in response and began throwing punches at Tanya, the Yellow Warrior managing to either completely counter or change the direction of the punches with her free hand. Tanya returned the basic strikes with swings of the wrench. It only took another three swings, however, before Fra-Be got her magic around the wrench and literally making it rust into nothing.

Large fragments still falling, the rust staining her glove, Tanya doubled her effort in the offense, throwing every punch and kick she had at Fra-Be, aiming both high and low. Fra-Be blocked the majority of the attacks, some only getting through and striking her by her being distracted from a previous hit.

One particularly hard strike sent Tanya flying into the air, barely missing one vertical beam but managing to grab onto it and bring herself to land on it. Groaning under her breath lowly, she quickly got herself to her feet just as Fra-Be landed gracefully before her.

It didn't take long for the fighting to response, the two balancing on the beam, while simultaneously throwing punches and kicks at one another, Fra-Be managing to land a solid punch to gut, pushing Tanya back a few steps. Fra-Be advanced, easily maintaining herself on the beam, but failed to block a sudden attack. The forceful kick sent her flying upwards, smashing into an upper beam, warping the beam permanently and electing a groan of metal from the entire frame as she landed back down on the original beam.

Tanya quickly took advantage, rushing forward to kick Fra-Be's head, electing a sickening crack somewhere within the scaled body, and sent her colliding with the nearest vertical connected beam. She rushed forward to continue the assault, but when she went to deliver another kick, Fra-Be manage to counter the kick with a kick of her own. This resulted in Tanya falling flat on her face again, and another kick cracked her visor and sent her falling back to the ground.

Landing with a sickening _crack_ coming from her shoulder, Tanya barely muffled a pain shout as she writhed on the floor.

" _Tanya, we've dealt with the Wolkeins. How's the Demon coming along?"_ It was Nat's voice, over the comms.

Slowly rolling onto her side, and pushing herself onto her knees before responding. _"Working on it.. wait, I've got an idea. Get the Howl Cannon ready."_

" _What are you going to do?"_

" _Gonna get you a good shot. You guys miss it, I'll shove that cannon up Matt's ass."_

A faint chuckle came from the other end of the comms, before Natalie assured, _"We'll hit it, just tell us where to aim."_

" _Aim up,"_ Tanya replied, quickly cutting comms as she got to her feet, holding her injured shoulder as Fra-Be slowly landed on the ground before her. She shifted into as best of a defensive stance as she could. What she wasn't expecting was that small smirk to twitch the corner of that lipless mouth.

"You're nothing more than a love-sick cub."

Tanya froze momentarily, staring at the she-Demon. _"What?"_

"The Red Warrior you were the one to ssssstay behind when the other three came to fight me. You tried getting his attention when he couldn't resisssst my powerssss. You act like your predecessor over her mate."

" _You know fuck-all about them,"_ Tanya snarled, one hand clenching into a shaking fist.

"More than you ever will," Fra-Be responded simply, her tongue flicking out, as if taunting Tanya.

Snarling, Tanya rushed forward, transitioning into a yellow-and-silver as she ran at Fra-Be.

* * *

" _What did she say?"_

Natalie turned to look at the pair of guys, finishing off the last of the Wolkeins with curve-stomps or stabbing through the head. The rest of the Wolkeins' bodies had already been absorbed into the ground through green flames, the last two bodies following shortly in bursts of green flame around their perimeter.

" _MUTT, we need the Howl Cannon here, ASAP,"_ Natalie asked, Howler to her mouth guard, before turning to face the other two again. _"She said to aim up."_

"… _My guess is she isn't going to be coming through the front door,"_ Kyle commented, approaching Natalie along with Matt, the three standing in a small triangle.

" _I'd have to guess the same thing. Also, for Matt's sake, we're going to want to make that shot count."_

" _Why?"_ Matt asked, glancing at Kyle briefly before focusing again on Natalie.

" _Because if we miss, you're going to get a very big pain in the ass."_

Kyle stifled a chuckle, and quickly fell quiet altogether when Matt turned to glare at him. Turning back to Natalie, Matt confirmed, _"We're not missing."_

At that moment, the Howl Cannon materialised between the three of them; Natalie and Kyle grabbing either side of the engraved cannon, and after a quick debate on how they were going to get the thing facing upwards, they settled on propping the weapon up and holding it there as steadily as possible.

" _Now we wait,"_ Natalie commented under her breath, gritting her teeth as she fought to keep the Cannon from swaying.

" _How long? Fuck knows,"_ Matt finished off, grunting quietly from his current position; knelt down, his hand held at an awkward angle as he forced his palm against the spot normally reserved for Isaac's palm.

" _Hey, Tanya will get the job done,"_ Kyle countered, glaring back at Matt. _"I trust her."_

* * *

Tanya's body slammed back against a short, in-progress concrete wall; panting lowly, several new scuffs across her yellow-and-silver armour. When a screech sounded, however, she quickly rolled out of the way just as a scaled fist came at her. Concrete shrapnel flew everywhere, dust clouding the surrounding area. Quickly rolling back onto her feet and jumping back up, she deflected several more punches, sending them off and returning them with jabs to Fra-Be's sides.

Adding a right uppercut to the mix, Tanya then ran and tackled the she-Demon, her fractured shoulder bone screamed at her in agony, the sudden jolt shifting them uncomfortably. But Tanya grit her teeth and hoped the _Instinct_ kicked in soon, as she delivered punch after punch to the stunned Demon.

" _You!"_

PUNCH!

" _Fucking!"_

PUNCH!

" _Bitch!"_

The last punch was caught in a scaled palm, and twisted to a sharp angle that forced a pain grunt from the Warrior. Said she-Demon, with a strand of green blood oozing from the corner of her scaled lips, hissed dangerously as she threw a charm-encased fist at her chest. The spell, giving off a dark yellow aura, threw Tanya back about thirty feet, sending her tumbling across the ground.

When she finally came to a stop, tumbling and her back coming to rest against a support beam, her head sagged slightly, partially resting on her shoulder as she panted. Through her visor, with a crack threatening to break apart the HUD, she saw Fra-Be rise to her feet and approach the female Warrior. One hand made slow, wavy movements at her side, a red aura sticking to her fingers.

"I shall deal with you firssst," Fra-Be began, wiping the blood off with the back of her hand, and flicking it to the ground. She came to a stop just before the slumped Warrior, and crouched down so she was level. She flicked the red aura, now entirely encasing her fingers, and from it a small, transparent-red dagger formed, stemming from her first two fingers.

"Then, thossse three Warriorssss who dare defy me…" Fra-Be continued, bringing the small dagger up to Tanya's neck; her other hand grabbing the jaw of the helmet and tilting it back up so it was straight. This elected a grunt of pain from Tanya, followed by another, louder one when the magical dagger pressed down on her front, right about the fracture of her shoulder.

She tried writhing and wriggling out of the she-Demon's grip, but Fra-Be had her firmly in place; pressing down harder, as if the dagger was about threaten to break the near impenetrable armor.

"Then….who knowsss? Perhaps I'll lift that ssspell…and ssshow the Red Warrior what he hasss done..." Fra-Be finished, slowly angling the dagger up so it lightly ran against the chin of the helmet; creating a single, silver scratch against the yellow armour of the helmet.

Tanya's head turned slightly upon that last remark, fully facing Fra-Be now; one had suddenly going to the she-Demon's forearm, to keep the magical dagger from doing any more damage. Fra-Be smirked slightly, her mouth twitching into place. "Ssstill have fight in you, I ssseee…I will enjoy thisss."

" _Yeah, I've got fight; fight to fuck you up!"_ Tanya said through grit teeth, her other hand suddenly flying up and wrapping around Fra-Be's throat. A short choke came from the she-Demon, her eyes widening slightly before Tanya removed her other hand from the wrist. She then drove it into the she-Demon's stomach, with such force it not only released Fra-Be's hold on her; it sent her flying into the air, smashing through several wooden beams the workers must have been using to work on different areas.

Tanya quickly rose to her feet and jumped from beam to beam, turning into a yellow blur; whenever Fra-Be started slowing down and threatened to start falling to the ground, Tanya's streak would jump across and slam into her, sending her farther up and at a much faster speed. When they broke the 30 story mark, Tanya paused briefly, waiting for Fra-Be to line up perfectly for her plan…

Wait…

Wait…

Now!

She jumped from the beam in a streak of yellow, shoulder-tackling the mid-air Demon. The two went flying through a tarpaulin cover on the side of the building-really windy, must be there to keep the construction workers safe-, tearing it open as they fell through it.

* * *

" _Look!"_ Matt shouted, pointing to the sky. The others looked at where he was pointing, and sure enough, there was a small dot of yellow mixed with dark green, streaking away from the building and began pummelling towards the ground.

" _Alright, line the shot up!"_ Natalie shouted, helping Kyle adjust the angle of the Howl Cannon, and the three quickly placed their palms on the points to charge it up. As the low whirling of their combined energies started to build up, Natalie and Kyle continued to adjust the Cannon, ensuring it was hit its target.

" _Fire!"_ Matt shouted, just as the cannon was adjusted correctly. A second longer and they'd miss, and the last thing they needed was an injured, _pissed_ Tanya. From the double-barrel ended Howl Cannon, the combined power of the three shot out, streaking through the air in the vague shape of an angered wolf, muzzle opened wide and 'teeth' bared. Amazingly, the shot landed; separating the two beings, sending who they hoped was Fra-Be flying into the air following the explosion.

" _You don't think that was Tanya, do you?"_ Matt asked after the shot hit, glancing at the other two as they lowered it back down.

" _You're lucky it wasn't."_

The sudden voice startled the three, almost causing them to drop the Howl Cannon as they turned, seeing Tanya rising from the kneeling position she had landed in.

" _Otherwise I'd come back, only to shove that thing up your ass,"_ Tanya continued, approaching the other three and placing a hand on the Howl Cannon. _"Now, let's get another shot."_

" _Is that really needed?"_ Kyle asked, stepping back when Tanya gestured for him to back up; he'd only offered to help…

" _The three of you don't have enough power in the Cannon to properly destroy a Demon; Savage said you need a minimum of four of us to get a good kill,"_ Tanya informed, grunting briefly as her shoulder shifted painfully, clutching her injured shoulder briefly.

" _Come on then; before she burns up in the atmosphere. We want to take the credit for this kill,"_ Matt said, gesturing for Tanya to take her spot; the two sharing the central place for their energy. With both of their hands followed by Natalie and Kyle's hands taking their place, they began adjusting the angle again.

" _Where is she…?"_ Matt muttered under his breath, looking around. He glanced across at Tanya, seeing her helmet twitch slightly as she looked around.

" _There,"_ she suddenly stated, tilting her head; like she was aiming down a non-existent scope. _"Get ready."_

" _Ready,"_ the other three confirmed, making their last adjustments.

" _Fire!"_ Tanya and Matt called at the same time, energy pulsating from their Howlers and into the Howl Cannon; igniting the initial firing sequence, with Natalie and Kyle's energy assisting. The Cannon fired again, the blast far more powerful now with four Howlers behind it.

The blast sailed through the air, leaving a faint streak of energy behind in its wake, as it headed towards the small dot in the sky that was Fra-Be's body. The further and further away the shot went, the less of a shine it get off, that was visible to the teens at least.

Finally, it hit; a distant explosion was visible before it was heard. But when it was heard, it wasn't loud; sort of a distant echo of an explosion. Which…was exactly what it was.

" _Alright, that's that. Either we've killed that Bitch of a Demon, or we're going to have a hard time explaining why we caused a plane to explode,"_ Matt said, the Howl Cannon finally returning to where it came from, leaving the four standing there.

" _C'mon, let's see how Isaac's holding up,"_ Tanya stated, before running off without a second look back; tearing up the concrete, leaving another destructive path in her wake. Not wishing to keep her waiting, the other three quickly took off after her. Three more streaks filled the streets, of blue-silver, black-silver and white-silver, chasing after a yellow-silver streak that was way ahead of them.

* * *

The Wolf Pack Megazord slammed onto the ground, kicking up large amount of rubble and destruction, buildings had already toppled over and countless lives would have already been lost, judging by the trail of destruction the two Megazords had left. Leading out of the city at long last, the possessed Isaac got the Megazord back on its feet and threw a fist at this Silver Megazord. The hit connected, denting the plates and sending the Megazord staggering back a few, large steps as it and the controller recovered.

But Isaac kept the attacks coming, throwing punch after punch at the other Megazord, some landing, some getting deflected. With each hit, however, the two Megazords moved back out of the city's borders, returning the destruction to the fields and forests. While the Wolf Pack Megazord was fully on the offensive, E's possessed mind was putting this new Megazord in the defensive. Despite the strange possession, there was something nagging the back of E's sub-consciousness; this…shouldn't be possible! He was just a teenager!

One lucky hit struck while both mind sets of E were fighting with each other, and E's Megazord went down, striking the ground, shaking anything nearby, and probably toppling any poorly constructed buildings. E was thrown around the cockpit of the Megazord, grunting as he tried to regain his footing.

He looked up, and found the other Megazord standing above him; sword gripped with the blade facing downward, raised above its head. Ready to bring the final blow down on him.

Inside the Wolf Pack Megazord, Isaac's red-glazed eyes were narrowed, an animalistic snarl ripping from his throat, coming out more mechanical and vicious through the voice modulator. His hands tightened around the hilt of the human-scaled sword for him, and he raised it. The Megazord copied his movement, and held it there.

When he went to bring it down, however, Isaac felt himself freeze momentarily, blinking, the faint red glow to his eyes started to fade. When it faded entirely, reverting his eyes to their normal colour, he suddenly felt the entire weight of his body press down on him ten-fold. He staggered a bit, causing the Megazord to do the same, before he righted himself. Finding his breathing grow heavier, Isaac brought one hand to the side of his helmet, groaning.

In the other Megazord, E was experiencing a similar come-down, holding onto the small podium before him, blinking rapidly as the red haze faded from his eyes. As the mist dispersed, his hearing was filled with a constant voice.

" _E! E, talk to me, E!"_

It was Clint.

" _Clint?"_ E groaned, righting himself as he saw the Megazord standing before him momentarily frozen, taking this opportunity, his Megazord kicked the legs out from under the Wolf Pack Megazord, sending it to the ground.

" _E! Thank God. Listen, we're going to be teleport you and these Zords back to base, so it's going to get a bit rough in a few minutes,"_ Clint responded over the comms.

" _How…How long was I out?"_ E asked, as he slowly pushed the Megazord back to its feet, bringing the silver/black/white combination to its full height.

" _Just short of an hour, but your vitals were going wild. Fairweather said she's seen something like that before, back at Lightspeed. Looks like they're all coming back to normal levels. Now, hold on tight."_

At that moment, E found himself begun to be encased in that similar blue energy, but also found it expanding to the interior of the cockpit as well.

From his perspective, picking the Megazord back up from the ground, Isaac saw a faint outline of blue energy encasing the other Megazord. Starting at the head, it slowly moved around the shoulders and worked its way down. The respective heads of the individual Zords did seem resistant to the casing, each growling and that body part shaking slightly, as the encasing passed over them. Not a full minute later, the entire Megazord was covered in that sparking, blue energy, working outside in, the entire Megazord began to disappear.

" _Isaac! Isaac!"_

The shout over the comms brought his attention away from the now vanished Megazord, and Isaac turned the Megazord's head around to face the source; he got the visor to zoom in, and saw the other four teens rushing towards the Megazord.

" _Guys?"_ Isaac asked, getting the Megazord back on its feet again.

Varying replies came in response to his question; ranging from, _'Thank God'_ to _'Fucking hell, I owe Kyle twenty.'_

" _We'll explain what happened later, but right now, that bitch of a Demon is gonna be a big bitch of a Demon. So we're coming in,"_ Tanya said.

" _Alright, come on in. Also, Nat, Matt; call in your other Zords. We're not going to be taking any chances with this one,"_ Isaac ordered, just as the others were teleported into the cockpit. When they materialized on either side of him, he glanced to Matthew and Natalie, both on one side, waiting for a response.

" _Are we sure that we can actually use all three of 'em at the same time?"_ Matt questioned, a he and Natalie summoned their respective crystals; the dark blue and red for him, the foggy-white crystal for her.

" _No time like the present to find out,"_ Natalie replied, before something came up on their radar; looks like Fra-Be decided she wasn't done about now. _"Actually, no time like now. MUTT!"_

" _Lightning and Wind Wolf Zords have been released,"_ was MUTT's response, adding, _"I take it that Isaac has returned to normal?"_

" _As normal as that fucker can get,"_ Matthew responded dryly. Though it was hard to make out, there was a lack of malice to his tone that proved he was simply joking.

" _Piss off,"_ Isaac replied curtly, though was smirking under the helmet.

" _Heads up,"_ Tanya warned, getting the Megazord facing forwards again; the others now facing the fully-grown Fra-Be. Loud, vibrating snarls came from the large lizard. Her eyes were narrowed to their thinnest, but at this scale, they were still quiet very visible.

"I will ensssure victory thissss time, Warriorsss," She hissed, her hands slowly spreading out, the clawed tips starting to draw energy from the palm, forming large orbs of glowing red magic.

" _We'll see about that, bitch,"_ Isaac grunted, glancing at the radar on his HUD, seeing three blips coming up behind them; the Zords were here.

Fra-Be hissed, her forked tongue flicking dangerously, as she ran at the Megazord. Her thunderous steps shook the earth beneath her, slamming her forearms against one another against her chest. From her fingers, dark green magical crawled down her forearms and formed small, transparent-green shields. Now armed with defences, she brought her arms out wide. A blast of blue lightning came at her right, but a quick raise of her shielded forearm deflected the attack.

The lightning arcing off the shield and into the ground, Fra-Be side-stepped to avoid an attack to her left, the Crimson Lightning Wolf diving at her. But that attack was thrown off when, with a roll of her shoulder, smacked the shield against the Wolf Zords' jaw.

As that Zord tumbled across the ground, and the other Lightning Zord quickly rushing to assist its brother, the Megazord stepped up to Fra-Be; the five teens inside the cockpit raising the sword, and going to bring it down on Fra-Be.

But the blade didn't make contact with the scales. Instead, the lizard's shield blocked the sword as it came at her. She jerked the sword back, sending the Megazord a few steps back.

The Warriors inside recovered quickly, Isaac saying, _"Alright, let's try that again,"_ As they stepped forward again. Instead of leading with the sword, this time, they threw their other fist first; bringing the right hook in, but that was blocked as well.

One shield blocking the fist, Fra-Be raised a foot and kicked back the sword, as they tried bringing it in for an undercut. Her four-toed foot kicked the forearm back, nearly dislodging the sword. The Megazord now momentarily stunned, she brought her other hand down across the Megazord's chest.

Sparks flew as the Megazord stepped back, four scratches across the Red Alpha's head. Sparks showered down on the Warriors as growled filled their helmets. Isaac briefly brought a hand across his chest, feeling the claw marks across his own chest; pretty sure the others were feeling the same thing.

" _Fuck it, we're not screwing around. Matt, get those Zords on,"_ Isaac instructed, side glancing at the Blue Beta Warrior.

Matthew nodded, quickly disconnecting himself from controlling the Megazord to activate the two crystals in his podium. Briefly pressing the pair, both crystals started glowing a bright blue and red, respectfully. In the same moment, both sets of Wolf Zords perked up, both sets of eyes glowing. They quickly moved in, closing the distance between the Megazord and the she-Demon.

" _We need some room or they're not gonna fucking fit,"_ Matthew warned, the cables and wires attached to the back of his suit pulling him back into controlling the Megazord.

" _Already on it,"_ Natalie responded, already working on the crystal. Tapping the crystal in several different locations, supposedly giving it commands.

And soon, both they and Fra-Be saw the effects of her work.

The Grey Steel Wolf Zord leapt over the Megazord, metal claws shining in the sunlight and a mechanical snarl ripping from its throat as it smashed into Fra-Be. Her shields shattered into transparent shards, soon disappearing as Fra-Be felt to the ground, her forearm and fist working on keeping the metal jaw snapping at her head.

" _Bring 'em in Matt,"_ Isaac instructed, seeing the two Zords on the HUD.

As the Megazord formation sequence was activating, however, Isaac was looking around and noticed Tanya shifting her shoulder in discomfort, a grunt coming from her.

" _You alright?"_ He asked.

Tanya glanced aside at him, hearing him voicing his concern for her. A far cry from what he was like earlier, under that Demon's control…

" _I'm fine,"_ She brushed off, rolling her shoulders; grunting when the fractured bones shifted against one another, threatening to damage the muscles holding it together. _"Nothing MUTT can fix."_

Isaac let his gaze linger of the Yellow Gamma Warrior a second longer, before the Lightning Wolf Megazord formation was complete, the helmet sealing over the head. With a brief flash of light around the two halves of the helmet, fusing them together, the formation was complete.

By this stage, Fra-Be had managed to grab the Grey Steel Wolf Zord around the throat and threw it over her, making it come crashing down on the ground further up. She brought herself back to her feet, her fingers flexing and eyes narrowing dangerously at the sight of the Lightning-charged Megazord.

The two quickly approached each other, throwing punches and ducking to avoid the others' punches, shards flying from the newly formed magic shields on Fra-Be's forearms. The fists that connected with the Megazord sent sparks flying from the points of contain, and small showers raining down in the cockpit.

Almost in unison, the two Titans delivered uppercuts to one another, Fra-Be's magically enhanced and the Megazord's boosted by the five pilots putting all their effort into it. Both strikes connected, sending them both reeling. The Warriors all reeled back, Isaac and Kyle shaking their heads to recover.

" _Fuck this fist-fight bullshit. We've got fucking lightning cannons on this thing! Let's just them!"_ Matt exclaimed, gesturing to the two crystals before him.

" _I say do it; we've had enough of this bitch,"_ Tanya agreed, gaining looks for her words. _"What? Because I'm agreeing with Matt?"_

" _Yeah,"_ Kyle admitted.

Huffing, Tanya flicked him off briefly before re-syncing with the others. Rolling their shoulders, with a little difficulty on Tanya's part, the teens activated the Lightning Cannons; the muzzles of the two Lightning Zords opened up, and visibly began to charge up with electricity. Fra-Be took note, rising to her feet again. The last traces of her shields fed back into her finger tips, reverting back simple, unformed magic at her fingertips. Bringing her hands together in front of her chest, she pushed them forward; one palm holding the open hand, spread out, facing the Megazord. In the centre of the open palm, a small, dense orb of dark yellow magical aura was swirling into form.

" _Fire!"_ Isaac commanded.

The built up energy in both Megazord fists suddenly let rip, burning through the air before the Megazord, and arced straight towards Fra-Be.

But the energy was intercepted before reaching its target, Fra-Be's counter-attack of a stream of magical energy flowed from her palm, streaking across the sky before her and colliding with the Megazord's blast. The two massive energy bursts fought with one another, each momentarily gaining a foot hold and pushing forward slightly. Only to get cut short and forced back the same distance by the other, leaving them back where they started.

This was a stalemate.

* * *

"Alright, let's keep it moving people! Only bring the essentials with you! Pax Valley is to be evacuated as soon as possible!"

The announcement was repeated by several different people wielding megaphones, across different parts of the city. Along long streets of Pax Valley, several Army Personnel carriers were dotted around the streets, armed soldiers standing alongside police officers, acting as mental safety barrier for the civilians as they made their way towards specifically designated buses and their own vehicles.

All across the city, families and individuals were pouring from their homes, carrying personal belongings in backpacks or travel suitcases. Children of varying ages accompanying them, the younger ones crying, somehow able to sense the tension flooding the adults. The middle-aged children asking various questions, finding the entire situation strange and new. The eldest were roped into helping the adults carrying the rucksacks, a mix of irritation and concern across the range of children.

"Alright, that should the last of them in this section of the city," One solider informed another, his Commanding Officer, both decked out in the standard United States infantry uniform and gear.

The CO nodded, one hand resting on the handle of his holstered pistol. "Right, let's get them moved out to the next two streets over. After that, that'll be the majority of the city evacuated."

"Heads up, we're getting a show."

Both CO and Corporal looked up, one troop standing on the roof of a personnel carrier beside the discussing pair, a large pair of binoculars raised to his eyes. Bringing them down again, he knelt down and offered the binoculars to the CO. Taking them, the CO raised them to his eyes.

From their perspective, right down the street led directly towards the outskirts of the city. And in this particular section of the city's outskirts, the soldiers and officers got a good look at the latest Megazord battle, fighting the latest creature; creatures that were led to believe to be mere Monsters.

Lowering the binoculars, the CO ground his teeth slightly, before reaching for his radio and saying, "Be advised, Power Rangers sighted outside the city. Try to pick up the pace in evacuating the civilians."

Handing the binoculars back to the solider stationed on the carrier, the CO moved out from behind the carrier, making gestures to the closest soldiers under his command. "Alright people, next streets! Move it out!"

At the command, the soldiers began making the preparations to move out with the carriers, just as the last of the civilians loaded their belongings into their cars and headed to the pre-designated temporary accommodations or relatives outside of the state.

At that moment, however, a massive blast echoed into the city, the resulting shockwave reaching them long before the sound, a barely visible shockwave blasting past the soldiers. Glass rained down upon them from the buildings above them, forcing them to shield their faces and any exposed skin. Others pressed their hands to their ears, a vague attempt to try and keep their hearing in one piece.

"What the fuck was that?!" The CO shouted, a faint ringing in his ears as he brought himself to his full height again, a small gash sliced across the exposed skin of his forearm oozing blood. As he quickly brushed the smaller shards of glass from his infantry-standard cut brown hair, he got a response.

"Sir, the Rangers!"

Grabbing his own pair of compact binoculars, the CO looked down the street and to the previously fighting Megazord and Monster.

"Mother of God…"

Even at the distance they were from the fight, the CO was sure that he could feel the heat generated from the two opposing energy streams, blasting one another and creating a shower of flames and arcs of electricity where the two met. Like two fountains of Water forced against one another, and looking for a way to get past the other.

"Alright, let's pick up the speed! Last thing we need is them turning that on the city!" the CO instructed, gesturing for his troops to get a move on. He quickly moved with them, picking up to a light jog, another pair of soldiers quickly following after him.

The scout that was stationed on the carrier stayed put, bringing his binoculars down from a second look at the current fight. "Jesus.. thought Grove in '98 saw some shit…" He muttered to himself, chewing on a piece of gum as he brought the binoculars back up to his eyes.

* * *

" _How long can she fucking keep this up?!"_ Matt exclaimed, grunting and straining to maintain the stance needed to activate the Lightning Cannons. The others had the same issue, judging by the slight fidgeting each of them produced every so often. The cables connecting along their spines were ridged, the thinner ones twitching in mid-air.

" _Longer than we can. The Zords are gonna overheat and fuck us if we keep this up much longer!"_ Natalie warned, getting several readings on her HUD, highlighting the two arms of the Megazord in red flashes and showing a rising temperature for each. _"They're getting pretty fucking hot!"_

" _We talking Emma Watson hot?"_

" _50,000 Fahrenheit!"_ Natalie called out.

"… _Definitely Watson hot,"_ Matt muttered.

" _Look, I don't know what that is in retard units, but I bet it's bloody hot. How long have we go?!"_ Isaac asked, side-glancing to Natalie.

" _We're gonna get another twenty seconds before MUTT's safety buffers kick in and shut them down!"_

" _Can't we just disable those safety protocols?"_ Matt questioned.

" _Safety buffers are there for a reason, shithead,"_ Natalie snapped, before calling, _"Fifteen seconds!"_

" _Nat, bring the Grey Zord back; see if it can make the Bitch Demon here stop,"_ Tanya requested, suddenly remembering the Grey Steel Zord hadn't done anything for the entire time they had been in this stalemate.

Going quiet, possibly at the embarrassment at not coming up with that very idea, Natalie freed up one hand and activated the grey crystal.

" _Five seconds!"_

The grey-accented Wolf Zord suddenly came to life, rushing across the spot it had landed and towards the she-Demon, attacking from the side, and with Fra-Be's attention fully on the Megazord, its attack went unnoticed until the very moment of contact.

Fra-Be was tackled to the ground, and not a moment too soon; the electrical energy firing from the Lightning Wolves shut down, revealing the white hot glowing muzzles. And though they quickly became fading to a glowing red and orange, it was still impossibly hot.

" _How long does it need to cool off?"_ Isaac asked.

" _At least another two minutes,"_ Natalie informed after a brief moment to go over the readings.

" _Alright; back to old-fashioned shit-kicking,"_ Matt concluded, rolling his head and bringing his fists up defensively, the cables tensing with the other teens and helping them bring their fists to the right height.

As one, the teens moved the Megazord forward, as Fra-Be kicked the Grey Wolf Zord off her and got back to her feet and barely got her defences up when the first strike came crashing down. The red-hot muzzles of the Lightning Zords threatened to burn even her scales, but the shields re-formed across her forearm just in time for the next strike. She moved her shields with every offensive attack by the Megazord, waiting for the right time to strike. The she-Demon made her move when she dodged one punch aimed at her head, sending the Megazord stepping forward an extra step further than expected. An elbow to the back of the helmet sent it staggering forward another couple of steps, crushing any forestation that was unfortunate enough to be underneath.

Fra-Be turned, ready to deliver a strike to the exposed back, but was forced aside when the Grey Steel came leaping at them; the Demon believing it to be another attack on her. But the large Zord simply leapt past her and, mid-leap, began the transformation process to combine with the Megazord. The unfolded legs wrapping around the limbs, locking into place. The main body of the Zord folded smooth against the back of the Megazord, its head coming to rest just behind the Megazord's head. Transformation complete, the Megazord turned around sharply; forearms stretching out slightly, the Warriors in the head becoming reacquainted with the Grey Steel exo-skeleton.

" _Now this.. this is more fucking like it!"_ Kyle said, flexing his fingers at the returning sensation of sheer power and strength coursing through him and the others.

The Megazord turned its head slightly, seeing Fra-Be rushing at them; seeming to hope catch them off guard while they were distracted with the addition of the new Zord to the overall Megazord. But just as she went to bring down her magically formed, transparent-white dagger on the metal Titan.

But a sudden burning sensation around her wrist made her stop, and started shouting in pain as the intense sensation of burning skin and the smell of burning scales reached her nostril slits. The source led to the glowing red-hot Wolf Zord hand, in the form of a burning muzzle, wrapped around her wrist. The dagger shattered into magical shards, as her hand opened up and tried getting out of the grip that was burning her alive.

She tried clawing the metal forearm holding her in place, but a gut-wrenching screech came from the scaled Demon when the other hand was brought down on her forearm; cutting straight through the scales and cauterizing the wound shut. Half of the forearm and the hand came off, and the rest of the body stumbled back, holding the newly formed stump in agony.

" _Was that really necessary?"_ Kyle asked, as the hand was tossed aside.

" _It's either that, or you're gonna make some stupid fucking Star Wars reference. Trust me, it was always going to happen, so we just got it out of the way,"_ Matt replied bluntly, helping bring the Megazord's defences up with the others, and proceeded towards the still-screeching she-Demon. As they approached, she turned to them and tried fighting off the Megazord with her single-remaining arm. But the Megazord easily stepped back, out of the she-Demon's futile attempts to attack.

At one punch that ended up carrying Fra-Be one step too far, the Megazord grabbed onto the other arm and clamped down. More violent screeches came from the she-Demon, fearing the loss of her other hand. But that fear soon became worse when her knee was kicked out, forcing the she-Demon to her knees, both hands firmly grabbing her head. Screeches echoed from the she-Demon, as both the force of the grip and the blinding burning sensation squeezed down around her head.

" _The cannons cooled enough for another blast?"_ Isaac asked.

" _Barely,"_ Natalie responded.

" _All we need is one shot,"_ Isaac replied lowly, turning back around to face the kneeling Demon before them, head firmly held in the Megazord's glowing fists. Soon, the charging sequence of the Lightning Cannons began again.

" _Ready,"_ Natalie called.

" _Fire!"_

At Isaac's order, the five channelled the Lightning Cannons once more; Fra-Be's screams becoming overcome by the electrical energy crackling he air around them as the close proximity of the two energy sources in regards to each other. The energy orb encircled Fra-Be's head, the energy crackling reaching an all new level before it finally stopped.

Combining with the sickening _squelch_ of Fra-Be's head exploding. Green blood splattered across the ground and the across the front of the Megazord. The rest of the body fell back, quickly becoming encased in a swarm of black-and-green flames. As if it were nothing more than a human-sized human, the body was burned into nothing.

" _Thank fucking God,"_ Tanya grunted, trying to slouch in relaxation, but the wires and cables remained ridged, keeping her tensed up. _"That bitch deserved it."_

* * *

The Throne Room was shrouded in darkness, like a foggy day in the Huma Realm. Batibat couldn't see much further than a few feet as she entered; ever since the Master had been reformed to a physical form, the Realm had grown.. darker, if that were even possible. Despite the murky darkness, the sinister, red glow from her Master was clear as day when it came into view, even partially concealed by his torn and shredded robes, any shard that broke through, shone like stars.

"Master…?" She asked lowly, coming to a stop to what she knew was the centre of the room, just a few feet before the steps to the throne itself. Several signs told her this; the particular grooves in the rocks beneath her feet, guiding her to her place.

No response came, but she _knew_ her Master was sat there, the staggering drop in temperature, the aura of dread that seemed to flip what counted as her stomach... Not that it was any different to any other time she had stop before the Master. When still no response came, she opened her mouth to start speaking again, but was stopped in her tracks when a second source of light broke through the soup-clear air.

This one was a dirty white, floating down from the ceiling of the Throne Room, breaking through the smears like sunlight through thick clouds. The descending orb finally came to rest, seemingly in mad-air. But Batibat knew better, its positioning gave her Master away. That was right before the right armrest of the Throne…

" **Be still, Batibat…"** A slow, rumbling of a response came from the darkness, as the orb was slowly raised and brought to just before the centre of the Throne; the orb suddenly starting to grow smaller, as the light produced was stolen. Flowing from the orb and feeding into the dark red light produced by the Master; briefly illuminating the rest of the Master's body, but there wasn't much else to show. Simple a better picture of the torn robes, and casting the underside of his hooded head in even more shadow. The last of the light draining from the orb, causing it to vanish, the Master's hand resting to rest on the armrest of the Throne. Black, skeletal fingers gripping the old skull that sat at the end.

"I.. It appears you are aware of Fra-Be's destruction…" Batibat continued slowly, bringing her arms folded behind her back, her gaze still cast downwards. Focusing mostly on the ground beneath her, she only heard the movement as the Master rose to his feet; the robes coming to hang loosely on the non-visible body that lay beneath. The sound of claws clattering down on the stone steps quietly sounded, grinding against with the end of every step.

Pausing briefly when he reached the grounds before the throne, the Master waited for Batibat to respond to his silent demands. Realizing the unspoken order, Batibat quickly accompanied her Master's side, and the two began walking from the Throne Room. The Master stood a clear two and a half feet taller than the Warlord beside him, yet he paid that minimal thought as they walked out of the Throne Room.

" **She served her purpose…I got what I wanted,"** The Master finally spoke as they entered one of the larger chambers of the Realm, approaching the spot where Batibat would usually summon portals to enter the Human Realm. **"The minds of the humans were surrenders to me; giving me information I required,"** he added not a second later, not giving Batibat a moment to even think about asking what he meant by that.

Not that she would ever dare ask such a question...

Instead, she responded with another matter.

"Master, please.. we will re-acquire the Silver Wolf Crystal as soon as we can…" Batibat replied quickly, casting her eyes to the opposite side to where the Master was standing. Not a moment after she spoke, however, did she fall quiet as the Masters' gaze turned to rest on her; fearing she would face the intensity of a Siren's gaze into her very being if she looked around.

" **This is not about the Silver Crystal. That is not the priority as of now,"** Horror responded, a faint, rumbling snarl carrying the words from him.

" **This... Silver Warrior's mind surrendered information that could be of use.. against Oktrix."**

 _This_ caught Batibat's attention; turning her gaze sharply around, looking to her Master as he continued walking, the she-Demon stopping dead in her tracks. "You.. wish to go to war with Oktrix. M... Master…"

" **Silence,"** Horror snapped, his sharp tone feeling as though it was enough to physically split Batibat straight down the middle. Silencing the Demon beside him, Horror brought his back straight once more and continued.

" **Oktrix is a target that must be eliminated. Their destruction is my intended goal, all that remains is the finer details in the execution. But one thing is certain.. the Humans' minds will be required. The humans always were Oktrix's.. favourable.. specimens."**

Horror came to a stop at long last, standing before the great Wall of Demons, several large spots where Demons had come and gone, and yet, their essence stood before the Wall. Horror's head rose, the hood remaining in place in concealing the features, a deep, growling exhale passed through the Master's dead lungs.

" **All these years.. and now, my revenge shall be exacted."**

* * *

The setting sun created a scene of tranquillity, many shades of yellow, darkening into orange and deep reds, filled the sky surrounding the sun. The fading light blanketed the forests and greenery surrounding Pax Valley; the city itself looking as though it could have be taken straight out of a fantasy.

…If that fantasy was set in a post-apocalyptic dystopian future. Smoke was still billowing thickly from the damage and destruction littered throughout the city, buildings in ruin and damaged to within an inch of collapsing.

And overlooking it all from his spot on the hill, Savage's sharp gaze looked across the full spectrum of what was before him. The peaceful fields of nature, to the battle-damaged monument to the Humans. His hands shifting deeper into the pockets of the black-and-red accented trench-coat he wore, Savage exhaled slowly through his nose; the light wind brushing against his fur, his ears twitching and moving slightly at the faintest of noises.

Meaning he heard Isaac long before he spoke.

"Hey…" Isaac greeted, stepping from the thick barrier of trees and bushes and coming up to join Savage on the edge of the hill. Bringing his hands into his jean pockets, Isaac stood a couple of feet away from the Wolf, his eyes darting across his arms. Several wraps of bandage surrounded sections of both his arms, several deep flesh wounds scattered his forearms, as well as a few ugly bruises forming across his back.

The two stood as is, a silence enveloping them. Savage knew this pause had a purpose to it; he'd seen it many times before with the young pups of his Pack. They were building up to try and speak to an elder.

"MUTT's given me the all clear," Isaac eventually said, breaking the silence. "Said that.. whatever had control of me when that Demon was alive the first time is gone."

All he got in response was a mere nod, the wind picking up a bit more, causing Savage's fur and coat, as well as Isaac's hair, to wave with the breeze.

"It has never been quieter than it is now, the city."

Isaac turned slightly when Savage spoke, wondering if he had heard the large wolf right. When he figured his ears were still fully functioning, he asked, "What do you mean?"

"You humans, you.. make so much noise. A constant.. buzzing in the air, constant chatter. Even in the dead of night, you're doing something. Disturbing the peace, the natural order of things," Savage expressed, turning to look across at Isaac. His ears flicked back, the faintest sign of his teeth threatening to bare.

But he soon turned back to forward facing again, looking at the city once more. "But now.. now that the humans have left.. there is peace. The quietest I've heard it since the five of you became the Warriors."

"Yeah.. the evacuation. MUTT showed us the broadcast…" Isaac said, side glancing at the Wolf briefly, but he quickly re-adjusted and looked straight ahead again. "Decided to play it while he was patching me up, and stitching Tanya back together…"

Silence covered the two once again, but before it could become a pregnant pause like it had before, it was quickly broken by the arrival of Natalie, Matt and Kyle bursting through the bushes, all three coming to a stop, using each other to stop in their tracks, at the sight of Isaac and Savage turning to look at them. "What are you three planning?" Savage questioned, pulling his clawed hands free of the trench coat.

"Who said we're planning anything?" Matt asked defensively.

"You've got that look about you when you're thinking about something, like a fucking monkey trying to fit shaped blocks through holes," Isaac commented dryly, earning smirks and muffled laughter from the other two.

"Fuck you," Matt muttered, rolling his eyes and bringing a hand up to scratch his neck. "We're just going into town, grab some shit. Everyone's gone, so who's going to stop us from heading in?"

"Are you going looting?" Isaac asked Matt, before looking to the others and repeated, "You're going looting, aren't you?"

"Look, Isaac," Natalie replied, stepping forward and in front of Matt. "Even you've got to admit the Den is shit when it comes to actually being comfortable."

"It does the job," Savage responded sharply.

"For you, yeah, but when you've got tech just sitting down there," She gestured to the city down the hill, "And it's just going to go to waste if we don't.. fine, steal it. But who knows how long before they come back to Pax? Hell, if they ever do. And if that actually happens, you really think they're going to care? It'll be.. what? A few TVs, games consoles, a shit-ton of food. If we're going to spend life here, why not enjoy it?"

Isaac looked between the three briefly, each giving their own look, while Natalie and Kyle's were vaguely similar, the look of 'we're going to do it whether you want to or not, so just let us' look, while Matt had the look of 'who the fuck are you to judge' plastered all across his body, not just his face.

Eventually, Isaac just sighed, before saying, "Fuck it, y'know? Not a parent or anything, so what can I do to stop you?"

Kyle and Natalie broke into smirks, gesturing for Matt to follow as they quickly moved around the pair, heading off towards the city. Their speed drastically increased since acquiring the Howlers, turning into faint blurs of colour as they moved.

"Acting like I'm their fucking father," Isaac muttered under his breath, shaking his head slightly as he turned to side glance at Savage. "Can you believe them?"

"Everyone someone to look up to," Savage replied, turning around partially, as if turning to head back towards the Den. "A mentor, paternal figure.. an Alpha." Placing a large, heavy paw on Isaac's shoulder momentarily, Savage gave it a slight squeeze, almost a fatherly touch, as he said, "This may be happening a lot more, Isaac, what with the coming threat. They need it."

With that, he walked off back through the bushes and trees, leaving Isaac on the hillside, overlooking the city that stood before him. He watched as Savage vanished from sight, turning back to fully face the city again. "Yeah.. parental…" Isaac told himself, scratching the back of his neck slowly.

* * *

"Alright, that.. should be it."

The doctor, dark-skinned, 40-something, with black hair cut to just above her shoulders, finished tapping up her report on the laptop. She got up and approached the medical bed E was lying on, attached to several drips, which she added yet another one.

Easing the needle end into an exposed vein in his forearm, she said, "Just going to take a blood sample and send it off to the lab. God knows what may still be hanging around in your blood."

"Do what you've got to do, Doc," E grunted quietly, flexing his upturned fingers slightly, looking over the multitude of needles sticking out across the length of his arm. His shirt and jacket lay on the chair at the opposite end of the room, leaving him lying on the bed, exposed from the waist up.

Connecting the thin, clear hose from the needle tip to a large syringe, the doctor began drawing blood from her patient; the dark crimson liquid feeding down the hose and into the syringe, where it began collected up. Mid-extraction, she glanced up when she heard a knock at the door.

"Come in," She called, just about to finish pulling the necessary amount out of E. The door opened up just as she pulled the needle free, and E glanced up over to find Clint standing in the doorway, all dressed up in his black combat gear, pistol holstered at his thigh and hands folding behind his back.

"Sir," Clint stated, before turning to look towards the doctor. "How's it coming along?"

"I've finished the assessment of the patients' mental and physical condition, and I'm just getting ready to send the blood sample off to see if they can dig through it, to see if anything's hidden away in the blood cells," The doctor replied, placing the blood-filled syringe into the small, padded security case she had been provided with for this assessment. She got to her feet, but before she left to deliver the case, she grabbed a small, white plastic cup from her desk and handed them to E.

When he glanced up at her, she stated, "Trust me, you're going to need them."

"I'm not one for medication," E responded flatly, yet took the small cup from the doctor.

"Well tough shit, Elijah," The doctor replied sternly, sharing a brief glare with the agent. Clint was sure that E's other fist clenched tightly. Not from the irritation caused by the doctor's words, but the use of his name.. wasn't something E took lightly. Without another word, she left the room, stepping past Clint and down the corridor. As her footstep echoes started to become distant, Clint stepped closer and took up a seat beside E, who was now sitting up and had his legs over the side.

"These Wolf Zords that you acquired.. we've broken them down to their individual components, and I've got a couple of groups of engineers and techies working on them now. Hopefully we'll be getting the information we need about them soon enough," Clint informed, pausing briefly when E threw his head back and downed the collection of pills. Setting the now empty cup down, he grabbed a small cup of water beside it and downed that as well.

"Fucking hate pills…" E grunted, clearing his throat to get the last of the medication down his throat. "What about those asteroid fragments? How's the progression going on those?"

"We've had some good luck, thankfully," Clint confirmed. "Those asteroid fragments had absorbed some of the energy from the Silver Crystal. We've made a few modifications, and we've got something our soldiers can actually use against the Rangers. We just need time to mass-producing them for them all to use."

"Good, good," E noted, getting up on his feet and grabbed his shirt and jacket. Slipping both on, grunting quietly at the muscles across his right shoulder blade trying to resist, he headed towards the door. But as he was about to walk through it, Clint rose to his feet and spoke up.

"Fairweather's been asking questions."

E paused, mid-step, before turning back around to face Clint. His hands slowly rubbed down his jacket sides, ending in his pockets. "What sort of questions?"

"She wants to know the identity of the Rangers, she knows we have them on record, but she's been getting irritated that we're holding that from her. And she's been asking other questions, questions I'm not even sure she should know to ask."

E nodded slowly, rolling his tongue around behind his teeth a few cycles. He finally spoke after another minute. "Fairweather still has her uses; we just need to…be cautious with our next steps. And I do intend on making use of all she can give." With that, E turned back around and walked out through the door, leaving Clint momentarily standing there before he followed after him.


	17. Episode 16 - Fade to Blue

Episode 15 – Fade to Blue

A door was forcefully kicked open, one of the hinges breaking and leaving it hanging by the single remaining one. Light shone in, revealing the interior; shelf after shelf of boxed food and drink products, the back of a convenient store. Another door lay opposite the room, most likely leading to the actual store they had broken into.

One of the two figures stepped through the doorway, casting his shadow of the boxed foods. Raising his hands slowly, he flicked the clasps on the underside of the helmet and raised it off. Helmet off, Kyle's wide smirk was visible, his eyes lit up at the food stuffs, still in box.

"Now _this_ is a good find. How'd we miss something like this?" Kyle asked, glancing back at the second figure as he entered the storage room, falling to one knee and tearing the cardboard lid off of one of the boxes. The second figure, clad in yellow accented armour, strolled in after Kyle. Tanya looked around, all of the different items organized across the room; having no need for the light streaming in through the door she'd kicked in.

" _Just get what we need and we can move on,"_ Tanya replied, folding her arms and leaning against the door frame. _"You seem to know what you've come shopping for."_

"We're getting shit to make the Den more.. homely," Kyle replied, turning partially to look back at Tanya. "Or did what Matt say just go through one ear and out the other?"

" _You're not getting sarcastic with me, are you Kyle?"_ Tanya asked, rolling her head around her shoulders to look at Kyle. A response came to mind, but he knew better than to respond and simply returned to riffling through the various boxes.

"Oh shit!"

Kyle's sudden exclamation caught Tanya's attention, bringing her back from scanning the surrounding area, and her eyes widened briefly. _'Were the guys who ran this store fucking stupid?'_ Tanya asked herself, kicking off from the door frame and approached him.

Somehow, hidden among the various food boxes, was a metal cash box; it must have been put there, just in case. But Tanya didn't see a key, yet the lid was open; then she noticed the warped, twisted nature of the lid. She spared a side glance at Kyle, but quickly looked back to the stacks and stacks of notes, in both his hand and the rest of the container. _"That's got to be at least a couple of hundred thousand in there,"_ Tanya commented, standing straight as Kyle threw the stack in his hand back into the container.

But she then saw Kyle going to close the lid again, and bring it closer to him instead of setting it back on the shelf. She quickly moved around to his side, and placed her hand on the cash box, glancing up to meet Kyle's gaze.

" _What use are we going to have for cash, Kyle? You really think there's a life for us after this?" S_ he questioned, forcefully wrenching the box from his hands and setting it back on the nearest shelf space.

"C'mon, T. Don't go all Savage on me; always going on about fighting and that shit," Kyle asked, getting to his feet and walked off, clearly aggravated as he paused and ran a hand through his hair with a loud exhale. "First Isaac, now you.. what happened to the Tanya that I knew, who'd sooner grab money than leave it?"

Tanya rolled her eyes slowly, before grabbing her helmet and taking it off, her shortened hair coming down, barely reaching her shoulders. Several new cuts, now faded, across her cheeks, face and neck, as well as a small, ugly dark-purple bruise on the side of her jaw, a lucky shot from a Wolkein bastard… Not that Kyle was surprised, he'd seen them plenty of times before - he was sure his body wasn't any better.

"Because of this," She stated, bringing her helmet down beneath her arm, carrying it by her hip. "You realize the only reason we're even discussing this cash is because the government, _government,_ ordered the city to be evacuated because of US. You really think, when and if we get out of this, there's a chance of a normal life? Let me answer that for you; no. There is not. Not a single chance at a normal life, should we even come out alive at the other end."

Kyle quietly sucked on his teeth, turning back around to look at Tanya, a faint, reassuring smile tugged at the corner of her lips. He eventually returned the small smile, before the moment was broken by a small growl from the comms. Tanya glanced down at her helmets, and raised it back onto her head, securing it with the clasps latching into place. _"What's up?"_

" _Yo, Kyle and Tanya, get down here. We've found the fucking mother-load for the Den. Consoles, PCs, all shit we can actually have fun with."_

" _On it Matt,"_ Tanya said, quickly cutting comms, they found out rather early that Savage often listened in on comms, and didn't like it when they clogged it up. She gestured for Kyle to follow, as she quickly headed out. Kyle grabbed his helmet as he walked through the door, quickly reattaching it and rushed off after Tanya, the two vanishing into blurs of yellow and black as they moved deeper into the city.

* * *

"Sir, we've got a hit."

E quickly made his way towards the techie that spoke up; passing several others, all working on computers and going through what looked like security footage, except this footage seemed to range from across a vast span of area. "What've you got?" He asked, one hand resting on the back of the chair and the other wedged in his jacket pocket.

The techie - light-skinned, somewhat flicked to the side hair - brought up one of the screens he had been looking at, and put it on full screen. Though the centre of the screen was off the main focus, the images were still relatively clear. The backdoor of a convenient store had been forced open and a figure was standing in the door frame; unfortunately, the shadows cast covered the figure, rendering any details invisible.

"They'll move in a bit," The techie assured, moving the mouse slightly and fast-forwarding the recording a few minutes forward. Catching it just as the figured moved out of the door, followed by a second; in the brief time between exiting the building and disappearing off screen, E got a good look at the two figures.

"Well, welll.. Ms. Steele and Mr. Colon. Looks like we'll be able to add breaking and entering, and theft to their lists," E commented, gently patting the man's shoulder. "Keep track of them, and make sure to keep Clint up to date on any changes."

"Uh, sir, about that…" The techie said as E went to leave; causing him to turn back around. "I've been having trouble getting access to the vast majority of the cameras throughout Pax Valley. I know the Government gave us access to them, but for some reason, a lot of them aren't giving me access."

"That's odd... Anything that could be causing it?" E asked.

"Only reasonable way for this to happen is that someone already has access over the camera, and at this scale of control, it would require a large amount of energy. But we're having trouble locating it, for some reason."

E raised an eyebrow slightly, before he replied with, "Well, I trust you lot to look onto what could be causing this. Like I said, tell Clint any updates." He quickly departed afterwards, leaving the rows of techies to their jobs, leaving the sound of rapidly tapping keyboards and clicking of mice. The further he walked down the corridor, the quieter the sounds grew, just about disappearing as he walked through the second set of double doors. Another five minute walk, passing several groups of armed patrols, led him to his destination.

Fairweather and several of her scientists working away in their laboratory, some at keyboards and screens, others standing before the Silver Ranger suit with data pads and wires connected to several open panels. Fairweather herself was one of the scientists standing before the Suit, a data pad reading data off from the suit, pressing a few buttons periodically.

"Fairweather?"

The call of her name made her pause, closing her fingers back into her hand just as she was about to press on the data pad. She glanced over her shoulder, seeing E standing in the open doorway, that usual air of arrogance surround him and filling the room with his mere presence. She turned around fully to look at him, asking, "Yes?"

E tilted his head slightly, not too sure if he heard that right, there seemed to be a.. slight edge to her tone, but he brushed that off for now as he walked into the lab. "I'm going to need to get access to the Silver Suit soon; we've located the Rangers in the city. There, they're vulnerable."

Fairweather nodded once, before she rolled her tongue around her mouth as she worked up to speaking again. "Speaking of the Rangers, that's something we need to discuss."

E glanced at Fairweather, looking up from over one of the computer techie's shoulders; her words earning glances and pauses in work with the other scientists in the room. "What is there to discuss?" He asked, straightening his posture and approaching Fairweather once again. The two exchanged a brief glare with one another, this one progressively becoming longer; this had been going on for the past week, since the last major encounter the D-13's had with these Power Rangers.

"You still haven't given me answers to my questions; this is just getting ridiculous now. You expect me to continue helping you bring these Rangers to justice, when I don't even have faces to put behind those helmets."

E stood there, his fingers drumming rhythmically in his pockets as he chose his words carefully. He drew his hands from the pockets and, as he folded them across his chest, gave his reply. "Hopefully, if everything goes to plan.. we'll have them arrested and you'll get a good look at them then."

Though frustrated with the answer, Fairweather tried her best to hide it, her jaw faintly moving as it tightened. It clenched tighter when E added, "Besides, you know that, if we did have any information about these Power Rangers, I'd share it with you."

 _Sure you would,_ Fairweather thought bitterly, her fingers flexing around the data pad. Giving a slight shake of her head when E looked away, before she replied with, "I still need to make a few repairs on a smaller scale - one damaged wire could result in a complete system shutdown. But I suppose I should be used to this by now, I had to use the entire week to make most of the repairs."

E spared a brief glance at Fairweather, setting down the clipboard he had been looking at, scribbled down notes, which he'd hope was temporary ones to be written up much neater. "I'll leave that for you to do, you're the expert in this field. Head scientist at the Aquabase for a reason, I see…"

Not even dignifying E with a response, she turned back to continue work on the suit, carefully disconnecting the pair of wires and wrapping them back around the pad. She gestured for one of the other scientists to hand her a small-scale tool kit, closing the shoulder panel and opening up one of the chest plates, revealing the many wires and faint glow from the crystal hidden deeper within the suit. Exhaling slowly through the nose, E turned and headed back out of the lab, though he paused when he just walked through the door, side glancing at the guard standing beside the door.

"Hey, listen," He said, turning to face the guard fully, seeing the slight shift of feet and straightened posture of the guard when spoken to. "I want you to.. keep an eye on Fairweather. See anything suspicious, let me know, okay?"

"Yes sir," The guard confirmed, giving a slight nod with his words.

Giving his own nod in return, E continued down the corridor, hands in pocket and his mind working, balancing several different thoughts at the same time.. not that it was anything different than usual.

* * *

" _So, this is the mother-load, eh, Matt?"_ Tanya asked, looking around the building they had arrived at, hand going to her hip.

It wasn't that hard to find the place Matt was talking about, all they had to do was find where the trail of broken in buildings came to a stop. Finding the back door of the last building in the trail forced open, the lock flying off in a completely different direction, and entered. It didn't come to all that of a surprise to her when she saw Matt, kneeling, tearing through the latest in a long line of boxes. With his helmet tossed to one side, she could see that look on his face; a kid on Christmas day.

"Hey, this is fucking awesome. Can't believe we didn't come to this store before; must have had fresh stock in before they abandoned the place," Matt replied, tearing open the cardboard and pulling the secured Xbox One. "See, this is the stuff we need in the Den. Otherwise we're going to be bored as fuck when we're doing nothing."

"He's got a point, Tanya," Natalie called out, coming out from behind one of the aisle, flicking through a magazine. "Face it, when we weren't doing anything and confined to the Den, it was boring as shit. Nothing to do, apart from trying to avoid further training with Savage or watching MUTT work on the computers. At least with this, we'll be able to actually enjoy being stuck in the Den."

" _We're not stuck in the Den, it's just the safest place we can stay at. Especially now we've got those Government assholes hunting us down,"_ Tanya replied, folding her arms as Kyle headed off into another section of the store, a big sign, 'COMPUTERS  & TECH', hanging above. He vanished behind the stacks of computer cases and accessories. That was when something clicked with Tanya, there was a curtain.. presence missing from around them.

" _Where's Isaac?"_

"On the roof, having a Batman moment. Decided he wanted to be by himself to brood," Natalie replied, closing the magazine and throwing it aside, sending the pages flapping as it landed, and she grabbed the next one.

"Better head on up, Robin," Matt called as Tanya turned and headed back out of the building again, chuckling slightly when she flipped him off as she disappeared through the door.

Upon exiting, Tanya jumped up onto the roof with ease, landing gracefully; these enhancements from the Suits, and the ones embedded within them from the Howlers in general, were becoming more and more like second nature to them. Speaking of which…the sudden, yet familiar, scent reached Tanya and she glanced around, settling upon her price.

Making one of the rooftop generations into a seat, Isaac was looking out all across the city, his helmet resting at his side, hands resting across his thighs. In the sunlight, the silver-accenting to his armour caught the light every few shards, highlighting the armour and the accenting across the entire set. As Tanya grew closer, she noticed more and more, his heartrate was slower than normal, and that, combined with the steady breathing and closed eyes, showed his current emotion.

Calm.

"Savage was right," He said, just as Tanya came to a stop beside him. "It's.. so quiet here now. Never realized until now…"

"…You do realize how fucking old you sound when you say that?" Tanya asked, her helmet off and brought under her arm, throwing a smirk up at him. Her smirk only grew when he rolled his eyes and uttered a, "Screw you," Under his breath. "Eh, wouldn't be the first time."

"That's for sure," Isaac replied, shifting around on the generator and slipping off it, landing just before Tanya, helmet in hand.

The two exchanged the same smirk again, before both helmets were carelessly tossed to the ground as the two pulled each other close. Tanya's arms wrapped around his neck, while Isaac's moved down her sides, coming to a stop when he held her hips. Their lips quickly pressed against one another's, both heads tilted in either direction as they engaged in their heated kiss. Tanya's fingers, though gloved in the suit, lightly gripped the hair at the back of Isaac's head, lightly tugging his head in whatever direction she thought best, to deepen the kiss. Isaac's fingers lightly dug into Tanya's suit, his eyes slowly closing as he felt himself fall deeper and deeper into the kiss; sensing everything about it. The increased heartrate, beating with enough force to feel it through the contact of their chests. Her faint breath against his skin, raising faint goose bumps.

The two found themselves resting against the generator, Tanya's back pressed flat against it with Isaac's hands on either side, 'trapping' her in place. The two briefly parted, their lips barely moving an inch apart, as both sets of eyes opened. The two exchanged another faint smirk, slightly picked up breathing, as Tanya whispered, "God.. why does it seem so much more fucking exciting in the suits?"

"Because you like a guy in a suit?" Isaac rhetorically asked, smirking as he raised a hand to block a playful hit. The pair of them broke into soft chuckles, both leaning into each other and exchanging short, soft kisses, the occasional moan and groan coming from the pair.

Until they were suddenly, and rudely, interrupted.

"I thought you wanted to know where he was to talk, not.. you know, 'talk'."

The pair turned sharply, looking at the other tree standing there, Matt had his arms crossed with a raised eyebrow, Natalie had a similar pose with a magazine hanging beneath her crossed arms, and Kyle had an armful of pieces of tech. Keyboards mostly, with a few cables they could try out with the Den's tech. Yet, despite the fact he was wearing his helmet, Tanya sensed something was.. off about him; he was giving off very mixed vibes. All these thoughts went through her mind in a few seconds before she realized she and Isaac were still pretty much pressed together. The pair quickly changed this, Isaac moving away and Tanya side stepping, folding her hands behind her back. A faint, nonchalant whistle came a few feet from her, Isaac's attempts to defuse the situation.

"So, uh.. find anything good?"

Matt went to give a response, but quickly closed his mouth; all the others saw was a slight tilt to his head, and looking over his shoulder. He unfolded his arms, and slowly proceeded towards the opposite edge of the roof.

"Uh.. what're you doing?" Isaac asked, taking a few steps after Matt, along with the others, but stopped when Matt raised a hand behind him.

" _Wait there. I hear something…"_ He said quietly, thankful for the raised edge to the store's roof as he crouched down, looking over the edge. After a few seconds, he gestured for the others to approach, but also made a 'stay low' gesture as they approached. As a result, the four lowered their stance and eventually were brought to their hands and knees when they reached the edge. Five heads poked over the edge, and scanned the horizon.

"Shit…" Isaac said under his breath, spying what Matt must have heard.

Even though, without the helmets, some of them couldn't see that far, they could see the several figures patrolling a few streets over, their deeply metallic scent easily reaching the teens, identifying them as very familiar.

" _Government ass-hats,"_ Matt commented under his breath.

" _Reckon they're the same ones we encountered in New York?"_ Kyle asked, side glancing to the others.

"No shit, Kyle. And if these guys are here…" Isaac replied dryly, his tone shifting from sarcastic to skeptical as realization started to dawn.

"Then that Silver asshole can't be that far behind," Tanya finished, having grabbed both her and Isaac's helmets before they joined Matt, offering Isaac his as she put hers back on. Following two faint _hiss_ from the pair as the helmets were re-connected to the suits, the five were now fully suited up as they got to their feet.

" _We need to get back to the Den,"_ Isaac instructed, glancing to the others. _"Now."_

" _I'll grab the stuff to take back,"_ Matt said, quickly moving to the other side of the roof and leaped over the edge, vanishing from sight. He was quickly followed by Kyle, leaving Isaac with the two girls as they tried to plan everything out, while at the same time keeping an eye on the Soldiers across the streets.

" _MUTT, we're gonna need a teleport sooner than expected,"_ Isaac said into his comms, Howler partially raised to the mouth-guard to his helmet.

" _Do I need to account for a large amount of additional items?"_ MUTT questioned. Isaac was _really_ beginning to question if MUTT was starting to get a better understanding of sarcasm.

" _Not like before, just a few items. We've got those Government assholes from New York in the city, and I don't think they're here to go sightseeing."_

" _They entered the city?"_ Savage's voice suddenly came over the comms, as if pushing MUTT aside so he could speak directly to them. _"How is this possible? I thought-"_ The conversation seemed to continue beyond the cut off, but the teens didn't get to hear it.

" _Is Savage getting pissed?"_ Natalie asked.

" _With MUTT, apparently,"_ Isaac replied, the three taking up position again at the edge of the building; noting that they had cleared one street and were in the process of doing the same to the next one over. _"We're going to need to be able to get going as soon as possible, less chance of them seeing us."_

" _I think we're already past that stage by now, Mr. Bryne."_

The three teens quickly turned around, the new voice catching them off guard, no way was it Matt and Kyle. They couldn't be able to gather the stuff in that short a time. But that wasn't the most pressing thought in Isaac's head right now. That voice.. that voice only meant one thing.

" _Shit,"_ Was all he said when he saw the Silver Ranger standing behind them, atop of one of the other generators. He quickly descended, creating small cracks in the roof's surface; rising to his full height, a smug smirk tugged at the corners of his lips, hidden entirely by the helmet, as he saw their reactions, small steps back. They were surprised.

" _I don't think I need to explain why I'm here, why don't you do us all a favour and come quietly. There doesn't have to be any tro-"_ But he was quickly, and suddenly, cut off when something struck the back of his head. As he collapsed to his knees, groaning and attempting to recover, it was revealed that Kyle was behind him, somehow acquiring a massive frying pan during his and Matt's return to the roof. Only now, it had been bent to an odd angle, vaguely resembling the outline of the Silver's helmet.

" _Y'know, I'm not going to ask why you felt the need to bring that, but fuck it, c'mon!"_ Isaac said, gesturing for the others to follow as they ran off the roof, leaping off the edge and disappearing into the city, away from the soldiers. And E only managed to get himself righted as they vanished, groaning as he glanced at his readings, seeing them level out once again.

" _All units; Rangers heading into the western parts of the city. Remember, we want to try and take them alive, but we don't need all five of them."_

* * *

"How is this possible? I thought you said you had every camera in this city in your control. So how did they get into the city without us noticing?!" Savage demanded, slapping the back of his hand against MUTT's chest plate, sending the robot staggering back a few steps at the force. But he righted himself quickly, and drew back to his full height.

" _I did all that were on official records and what my scans could pick up; as it would seem, some went under my radars,"_ MUTT responded evenly, turning back to the computers and keyboards, tapping away as multiple screens flew past the different monitors. Some remained the old ones, while some had been replaced with ones that had been acquired from Pax Valley's various stores.

"I want you to double check _everything -_ anything that may have slipped through your radar, any blind spots," Savage stated, working around the central console and gripping the short bit of railing; clawed fingers flexing around the railing, the claws creating slight grooves in the already damaged railing. "I will _not_ allow this region to fall to the humans again. Not again, MUTT. do you hear me?!"

" _You said that several times since we encountered one another; when I had to let you out every few centuries to ensure you wouldn't end up dying,"_ MUTT replied, not even bothering to look at Savage when he responded; his mechanical fingers dancing across the keyboard, the printing long since gone from constant use.

This response elected a low growl from Savage, however, and MUTT briefly paused his latest scans to address Savage directly. _"You act as though the legacy of your people rest solely on your shoulders, yet it is not your responsibility alone to bare."_

"Of course it is! I'm the last of my kind! The very last! My _species,_ our culture, dies with me!" Savage snapped, stepping back from the railing and turning partially around, one hand stroking the underside of his muzzle. He shook his head slightly, letting out a low, exhausted sigh. "You couldn't begin to understand this burden I bare.. these Warriors, these humans, they couldn't possibly understand what I carry. They're caught up with their.. simple human matters."

" _But they're more than mere humans, Savage, and you know it. They have Warrior's blood in them, dating back to your brethren. Yei, Naku.. Sage; they all live on within them."_

Savage's fists clenched briefly, before he relaxed them and exhaled again. "They're still young.. inexperienced. It will come with them in time, I agree, but they still require.. so much more. But I am the best chance they have at being successful. No-one else of the Clans is alive to train them."

MUTT slowly nodded, somewhat relieved that Savage was allowing himself to speak. _"This is good, Savage. You so rarely speak of them; I can sense your tension lessen, almost as though you are relieved to speak."_

Initially, another exhale was all the response he got, before Savage gave him a proper response. "Some burdens can be shared, MUTT. Others.. there are some that we must carry alone. In this case, this is one of the latter ones."

He would have said more, but a small alert echoed from the nearest console; the teens were calling in again. At the tap of a button, MUTT asked, _"What is wrong, Isaac?"_

" _We've got a problem!"_

Savage glanced at MUTT, before stepping forward to give his response. "What do you mean? What sort of problem?"

* * *

" _What do you mean? What sort of problem?"_

" _Those solider assholes! They're following us - they're trying to box us in!"_ Isaac all but shouted into the Howler, running through the streets of Pax Valley at break-neck speed. The others flanking him on either side, together, the five forming streaks of their respective colours as they ran. Behind them, several 4x4 off-roaders were tearing down the roads after the Warriors, spreading out to cover the width of the road, engines revving menacingly.

After a quick gesture from Kyle, the five suddenly veered off course and dived down an alley, the off-roaders screeching to a halt, swerving around so the encircled the entrance. Soldiers swarmed out, armed with rifles, and flooded down the entrance, feet pounding against the ground.

Unaware that they were being watched from above, by the very people they were trying to capture.

" _How long d'you think we've got before they noticed?"_ Tanya asked, quickly stepping back to avoid detection.

" _Give it a couple of minutes, then try and leg it while they're still looking,"_ Isaac replied, a faint panting behind his words, his chest armour very faintly rising and falling in sync with them.

" _As good as any plan, I guess,"_ Matt muttered, just now straightening up after bending over to recover. This earned him several looks from the others, some of which he was sure were raised eyebrows. _"What?"_

" _I suppose you've got a better plan, Matt?"_ Isaac asked.

" _Just find it funny that you think we'll blindly follow anything you say, just because you're the Red. Swinging your dick around, expecting everyone to fall into line. It's just a bit…well, bullshit really,"_ Matt replied, rising to his full height as Isaac and he finally stood toe-to-toe, barely half an inch different in their heights.

" _Hierarchy of the Pack, Matt. Figured even you managed to understand that, with Savage drilling it into that thick skull of yours,"_ Isaac snapped, glaring through the pair of visors to Matt's eyes. The other three stood back, not wanting to get caught up in the middle of all this. Savage had warned them of this happening, and the consequences, should they try interrupt-

" _Guys, c'mon. You can have this dick swinging contest back at the Den. This REALLY isn't the time."_ Evidently, Kyle hadn't been listening at that particular set of instructions. " _I mean, metaphorically.. just don't take your pants off. I don't want to be mentally scarred."_

" _Kyle,"_ Tanya harshly whispered, side glancing at the Black Warrior briefly. But in that short moment, the tense silence break into punches landing and grunts started. She turned back, and wasn't all that surprised that the pair of them were at each other's' throats, arms locked in between throwing punches and holding the other back.

" _Guys, stop!"_

 _"Is this really necessary?"_

 _"You guys are gonna get us caught!"_

The three overlapping voices were drowned out by the time they reached the fighting pair, Matt throwing a punch, barely missing Isaac's helmet. But Isaac used this momentum, carried over by the punch, and managed to flip him over his shoulder. Landing with a shallow grunt, Matt glared up at the Red armour-clad Isaac, and grabbed onto his arm in turn, his legs leaning up and wrapping around the arm, pulling Isaac down behind him.

The two rolled over a few times, Matt momentarily holding Isaac pinned and looked as though he was ready to break his arm, with the constant, steadily growing complaints and shouts from the other three getting drowned out even more when they were replaced with shouts from the two during their scuffle, suddenly rolled over the edge and disappeared from sight. The other three reached the edge just as two distinct thuds crashed down to the ground, but to their relief, somewhat, when Matt and Isaac didn't appear to be significantly injured.

Judging by the fact they were still throwing several punches and rolling around to get a better position of attack.

" _You may be Power Rangers…"_

Kyle, Natalie and Tanya all took a step back and looked up, shifting into defensive stances instinctively at the sight of the Silver Ranger standing on the roof opposite them. Thanks to the two buildings being relatively level, they were nearly eye-to-eye level. He stepped forward, partially dropping down into the metal-framed emergency staircase.

" _But your weakness? You're teenagers - impulsive, emotionally-unstable, hormonal. It's a wonder why the majority of the teams were formed of your age group."_

By this stage, Matt and Isaac had stopped fighting long enough to hear the one-sided conversation, and pushed themselves apart to look up. Only to be met with several rifle barrels aimed at them, barely inches from their helmets. Several of the D-13 soldiers surrounded the pair, the last remaining safety locks switched, primed and ready to fire.

" _Shit,"_ Matt and Isaac seemed to utter simultaneously.

A thick, steadily growing pocket of anxiety filled the alley, even encasing the three Warriors that stood on one of the roofs of the buildings. Yet it didn't reach the silver-clad Ranger, leaning on the staircase railing and looked down at the cornered wolves. His fingers flexing repeatedly around the railing, as if growing impatient. _"Well, what are you waiting for? I've told you we don't need all of them alive with us."_

Time seemed to slow down from the cornered pair, the fingers squeezing the triggers curling up at a snail's pace, the low breathing from the balaclava-wearing soldiers sounding much lower and exhales seeming to last a full minute. The pair glanced at one another, and strangely found each other moving in 'normal' time, wordlessly agreeing on what this was.

' _The Howlers,'_ They both thought, but paid the devices no mind as their main concern was the soldiers surrounding them. Shifting into attack stances, the two ran at the group of soldiers and began tearing through them.

Though all the soldiers and E saw was two streaks of blue and red, shredding across and through the number of soldiers surrounding them, fully automatic shots spraying across the alley, striking just about everything but their intended targets. One stray bullet even pinged off of the railing E was leaning out, causing him to step back. In this brief moment of confusion, Tanya dragged the other two down off the roof with her, jumping into the fray and assisting the other two Warriors. The alley quickly becoming a violent mixing bowl of flashes and streaks of colour, with E looking down into the dead centre of it, gripping the railing briefly, before throwing himself over the edge and into the fray.

Not even standing up straight from landing, he blocked a kick to his head and pushed the leg back, delivering his own kick to the nearest blur that shot past him. He definitely hit something, since the white blur went off course and took one of his soldiers out with her. But that didn't stop them for long, quickly transitioning back into a blur, and melding with the others to take the rest of them out. E tried taking them out as many times as he could, but nothing he threw at them seemed to slow them down permanently.

A couple of minutes passed, though it seemed like mere seconds, the streaks stopped spinning in circle and tore down and out of the alley. The force of the five actually flipped the nearest 4x4, glass smashing and steel warping as it came crashing down on its side. The rest of the trucks' alarms started blaring as the five tore down the street, leaving grooves in the road from their rapid, forceful steps.

As the majority of the dust and dirt settled, kicked up from the constant bombardment, E walked around, checking the condition of his men. Kneeling beside one, he pressed his first and middle fingers against the side of his neck, a few seconds told him the answer. Exhaling slowly, he pressed his other hand to the side of his helmet and said, _"Need medical assistance on my location. Nineteen seriously injured, potentially serious condition."_

With the message passed on, E's eyes scanned the surrounding area, but stopped when he spotted something. His scans picked up a few small droplets of blood on the ground. Judging by the way it was smeared across the ground, one of those Rangers must have ran over it and dragged it along their boot. But it was _whose_ blood that caught E's attention. Crouching down beside the droplets, he dipped his fingers into one smeared droplet and brought it to his visor. Rubbing it between two fingers, he nodded slowly.

" _Looks like those bullets work,"_ He muttered under his breath.

" _Warriors, we have a problem,"_ MUTT's voice came over the comms.

The five had covered nearly fifteen miles in a handful of minutes, nearly reaching the other side of the city, between escaping the D-13 and MUTT getting into contact with them.

" _Yeah, well, you're not the only one,"_ Matt snapped, the five eventually coming to a stop to recover from the sudden burst of speed. Finding another alley to duck into, beside an abandoned Chinese place, the five paused to catch their breath. _"Fine, what this 'problem' you're claiming to have?"_ Matt asked, his chest rising and falling faintly.

" _While the rest of your vitals seem relatively normal, Kyle's appear to be spiked,"_ was MUTT's response.

This cause all eyes to turn on Kyle, who in turn looked around at the others. _"What? I'm fine!"_ he insisted, before he saw their helmets turn downward partly. While he couldn't see their facial reaction, their physical reactions told him something wasn't right; Natalie's hand rising to her mouth guard, Matt and Tanya's slight step back. Looking down himself, he steadily became aware of a low, throbbing pain in his right side, bringing a hand to the pain, he grew alarmed when he looked down at and saw red blood, smeared across his gloved palm.

A small, bullet-sized hole had torn through his protective suit, and was steadily oozing blood, a trail had already made its way down his side, creating a single strip of crimson against the black-and-silver armour. While it didn't stand out like an eyesore, it was still very noticeable.

" _Shit,"_ Kyle muttered, his breath starting to grow heavier as realization dawned over him. His side fell against the nearest alley wall, Natalie and Isaac quickly moving in to ease him onto the ground, muttering words of reassurance as they got him onto the ground.

" _Shit, shit, shit,"_ Isaac uttered frantically, bringing his Howler up. _"MUTT, Kyle's been shot. I... I thought we.. those bullets couldn't get through these suits!"_

" _You're human. They are human. Humans adapt to change; I need Kyle back here so I can fix him up, and hopefully, find out what the humans have done,"_ MUTT replied. _"However, my scans are picking up activity around you."_

" _Government ass-hats,"_ Matt muttered, looking up and down the alley, almost instinctively.

" _We need to draw them away from here,"_ Tanya stated, looking across at Matt. All the while, Natalie did all she could to try and put pressure on the wound, to reduce the blood flow.

Isaac rose to his feet, with a nod of assurance from Natalie that she had this, and approached the other two. _"Tanya, you and Nat look after Kyle. Matt, you're coming with me."_ This drew looks from all three completely conscious members of the group, but Isaac paid them no mind. _"Now,"_ He instructed, glaring at Matt briefly before he gestured for him to follow. With that, he quickly ran down the alley, his outline vanishing into a blur of red.

Matt glanced across at Tanya, who had already made her way across to Kyle, who gave her reply, _"I'd listen to him if I were you. Need to clear up the shit you made."_

Sparing a brief glare, which went unnoticeable under his helmet, Matt slowly turned and took off after Isaac, leaving his own streak of blue-and-black behind him, leaving the other three in the alley, the pair of females to watch over the injured male.

* * *

"Hello?" _Knock, knock, knock._

The dark-skinned woman - the same that had attended to E - turned from her computer, and was mildly surprised to see Fairweather standing in the open door to her office.

"Fairweather. Surprised to see you here," She replied, getting to her feet and minimizing the tab she had been working on. "You're not one that I have on record for assistance regularly."

"Well, we're all human," Fairweather replied, adding a slight smile and a soft chuckle to her words. That quickly died down, and she continued, "Actually, I was wondering if you had anything for headaches. This one's been bugging me the last few days."

"Let me guess; E's the cause of it?" the doctor asked, a knowing smirk across her lips as she moved across the room. She opened one of the upper draws, her hand dipping in and gliding across the various tablets and pills. Though her back was to Fairweather, she heard a faint chuckle come from the Lightspeed scientist.

"That obvious, huh?" She asked, hands slipping into the pockets to her lab coat and slowly stepping into the room.

"When you've worked with him for as long as I have, you tend to pick up when he begins to get on peoples' nerves," The doctor replied idly, grabbing the best tablets suited for the job. Turning back around, she handed the box of Aspirin to Fairweather, adding, "And trust me, it's been a damn long time."

"How long's that? Sorry, just.. E isn't telling me a whole lot about him. Nothing, in fact," Fairweather asked, taking the box with a thankful nod and was directed to a glass of water. After she poured her glass, she set it down and turned around to face the doctor, punching the tablets free.

"Oh, now that's a question," The doctor replied, exhaling slowly as she leaned against the smaller counter beside Fairweather. She sucked on her teeth slightly, her head down as she remained silent in thought. "Must be going on.. nearly 20 years now. I was assigned to this unit back in '98, and.. well, haven't exactly needed to go on to do anything else."

"Must've been quiet the year, for everyone. '98 was definitely a year to remember," Fairweather commented, taking the pills and knocking her head back, taking a small sip of water to ensure the tablets went down.

"Hell yeah, pretty sure I've got the recordings on the ships on tape somewhere. Nephews are obsessed with the Rangers," The doctor agreed, chuckling quietly as her thoughts turned to them. "Haven't had the time for kids of my own, so.. they'll be the ones getting those tapes."

"They have any idea of you being here?" Fairweather asked softly, setting the nearly empty glass of water down. "What you're doing.. against them?"

The smile across the doctor's face slowly faded, and was replaced with a low sigh, and a small shake of the head. "They don't need to know about this, just that I love them, and I care for them."

Fairweather nodded slowly, wanting to put a comforting hand on the doctor's shoulder, but fought against it. She figured this doc wasn't one for physical contact, even if it would bring some comfort to her. Instead, she nodded slightly, saying, "Thanks again for the tablets."

"Hmm? On, you're welcome, hon. Take care now," the doctor replied, giving her own nod as she returned to work. Taking her seat once again, she faced the computer and brought up the tab she had been working on. With a slight look over her shoulder, Fairweather caught a brief look of indistinguishable medical details, before she silently headed out of the medical bay.

* * *

" _Matt.._ we need to talk."

Matt looked across at Isaac, in the middle of removing his helmet. They had left the other three and had travelled across the width of the city, hoping to draw all of the soldiers away from their location. They had just jumped onto this rooftop, as Isaac had said, to get a better look at their surroundings. But as it seemed, that wasn't Isaac's only intention to coming up here.

Setting his helmet down on a raised part of the roof, Isaac turned back around to face Matt, and shook his head slightly; Matt was still just standing there, arms crossed over his chest and helmet still firmly locked on his head. "Matt, c'mon, helmet off, I want to do this face-to-face."

No response came, all Isaac managed to do was get him to walk over to a maintenance hatch opposite him. Isaac sighed lowly, shaking his head as he ran his tongue against the back of his teeth. "Fine, be that way," Isaac muttered, before sitting up straight to look at Matt. "You may think that I'm.. as you so delicately put it, swinging my dick around and expecting everyone to follow. But, contrary to what you think, I'm doing this to keep us all safe. Because we're all that we have left.. individually, we've got pretty much no family left.

I've got no parents, Tanya's lost her dad, Kyle doesn't even want to speak about them so that can't be good, and Natalie says that both you and her don't like thinking about yours. But we've got each other, Matt. And that's probably the best we're gonna get with these," Isaac finished, raising his Howler up.

He waited, expecting something, _anything,_ to be said in response to that. But Matt didn't say anything, he just sat on the hatch, arms moved to rest on his knees. Isaac slouched back, exhaling loudly as he brought his hands up to rub his forehead slowly. Silence overcame the two, the faint wind creating the only sound on the rooftop, there were plenty more, subtler noises, but they all blurred into one with the unfocused hearing.

" _Families aren't something that sat well with me."_

Isaac raised his head when Matt finally gave his response, his hands falling limp, bending down his knee, a glare of exasperation.

"Seriously? That's your excuse? It doesn't 'sit well' with you? What the fuck Matt?" Isaac exclaimed, one hand slapping against his knee in aggravation. "Quit acting like you're the only one that had shit relatives. That's another thing, actually! You don't show any emotions, just varying levels of douchebag-ness! Y-You're an emotional outcast compared to the rest of us! We've laughed, we've cried, we've joked! And you? You've just shown sarcasm!"

By this stage, Isaac had been pushed to his feet in anger, his helmet long since thrown aside in rage, as he came to a stop before Matt, breathing deeply, his hands clenching into fists. Yet despite the rage physically radiating from him, however, Matt just remained.. quiet and still. The only movement he seemed to make now was the slight tilt up to his gaze. All Isaac saw was his own angered reflection in the visor, yet he was sure that same relaxed, indifferent glare in his eyes.

" _Maybe I'm not one to show emotions because of my family."_

Almost immediately after Matt spoke, the angry flare up in Isaac was doused as quickly as it had been ignited. His angered expression relaxed into a look into sudden realization, taking a small step back to ensure he remained upright. He tried to speak, say anything, but found that the words seemed to escape him, an apology, a.. just something, but he couldn't get anything from his brain to his mouth.

" _Maybe I don't share my emotions, because, perhaps due to my bastard of a father, wouldn't let me show any emotion beyond a neutral one; said he saw it as a weakness. Maybe that's why I don't show emotions, Isaac,"_ Matt spoke again, his head turned slightly as he looked up to Isaac, a completely different look to him now. _"Maybe…"_ He paused, finally bringing his hands up and all but tearing his helmet off and slammed it down beside him, surely creating cracks in the glass visor and through the internals of it. Now helmetless, Matt glared up at Isaac, "Maybe it's because you know fuck all about me, Isaac. Maybe that's the case, otherwise you'd know why I don't do well with emotions."

With those last few words from Matt, the rest of the realization caved in on Isaac, as he returned to the spot he had been sitting at before, a hand coming to partially cover his mouth as he shook his head slightly. Those last words seemed to have an effect on Isaac, as he lowly muttered, "I know barely anything about you.. barely anything about most of you… Fuck…

"Matt... I... I-I'm sorry. I… I didn't realize," he said quietly, bringing his hand down and turning to look at Matt straight. "Y…You're right. I really.. really don't know anything about your guys' personal stuff…"

"Yeah.. you don't," Matt grunted in agreement, leaning back and bringing a fist up to support his chin, giving a slight shake of his head. A silence encased the two, frosting over the roof and seemingly pulling all words from Isaac. Whereas Matt seemed content being silent for the time being, Isaac still felt there were things unsaid, despite his best attempts to hide it, Isaac was sure that he was seeing all those bottled up emotions, Matt claimed weren't there, flash behind his eyes now that his helmet was off. He went to speak again, but he was beat to it.

"Look, Isaac.. this big change," Matt made a slight gesture to the suit of armour he wore, "Is going to make it hard to adjust. I mean, yeah, it's been best part of six months, but…" An unintentional, scoff-like chuckle breaking through, "How exactly can someone adjust from a n.. well, relatively normal life, to something like this? Fighting Demons.. going toe-to-toe with Government asshats. Trained and having our asses kicked by some furry wannabe and his sci-fi pal. I mean.. it's difficult."

"Yeah…" Isaac agreed lowly, folded hands resting on his chin. "You've hit the nail on the head there."

It looked as though there were more words to come, but they both picked up something, judging by how they both perked up at the exact same moment, turning to the same direction. It took them a moment to identify exactly what they recognized, but when they focused, they knew.

"Looks like they followed us alright," Matt commented as he grabbed his helmet, rising to his feet as it went over his head. Isaac's followed and the two were locked into place, as their wearers moved to one side of the building to investigate the sound.

 _PING. PING. POW!_

" _Ah!"_

Isaac jerked back, clutching his elbow as the pair stepped back from the edge. Bullets had pinged off the edge of the building, before one managed to catch Isaac shoulder. He felt the metal tear into his flesh and bone, and searing pain flashed across shoulder before it was mildly subdued by _Instinct_ feeding into his body, but the pain was still very much present and forcing him to screw his hands into fists and his teeth grinding together.

" _Shit!"_ Matt exclaimed, looking as though he was going to grab Isaac to pull him back, but caught himself before he did. The two lowered their stance, erratically looking around for the source of the shots. _"We need to get out of here,"_ He stated, grabbing Isaac's other shoulder and turned him around, getting a better look at the entrance wound tearing through the supposedly impenetrable armour.

" _Think we both know that already,"_ Isaac commented, his teeth grit together tightly, almost to the point of feeling them break. The two tried going off the next edge of the building, but another pair of bullets struck the buildings' edge, trying the one opposite that ended in the same, dangerous result. Not ones to hang around, Matt gestured for Isaac to follow as they ran off the one edge they hadn't tried. Surprisingly, it worked, leaping off the edge with any bullets trying to strike them, and landed on the ground with varying levels of finesse. Matt rolled with the impact, taking the momentum away from the fall, whereas Isaac, with his injury, tried to crouch into the fall and stumbled slightly, though they both managed to stick the landing and ran off down the street.

* * *

" _Targets are on the move, heading East."_

" _Good, make sure they don't deviate,"_ E instructed, pacing back and forth across the width of the alley. Back down the alley, several military-grade medics giving temporary treatment for the severely injured that hadn't yet made it to the nearest pop-up hospital bay. They were just lucky to be alive, though, behind even them, still in the depths of the alley, a large white deceased tent had been set up and around the deceased.

E deactivated the comms and turned to look around, finding a pair of the D-13 soldiers approaching, rifles at ease. Tapping the side of his helmet, the front panels of his helmet folded up, collecting up over his forehead to reveal his face. "Keep an eye on things here, I'm going after Foxtrot Squadron," E instructed, looking between the two as he continued with further instructions. "I want one of you to map out the area, they're probably not anywhere close to this area, but I know for a fact that one of them is injured. See what you can find."

"Yes sir," The soldiers replied, almost in sync, standing at attention briefly. E nodded and dismissed them, walking away as the two soldiers walked down the alley. As he walked out into the road, seeing the destruction left behind by the Rangers, several members working on righting the upturned 4x4 to move it, E couldn't help but notice several sets of eyes steal glances at him as he passed small clusters working on cleaning up the evidence. He paused momentarily, turning to face one such group that were currently trying to get into one of the cameras.

They saw him looking to them, armed with his superweapon of a suit of armour, and quickly looked away and returned to their work at a higher speed.

While he was sure that they were talking under their breath, E continued on, tapping the side of his helmet, the panels folded back over his face. Cutting himself from the outside world, until the radars and scans re-activated a second later and brought up the digital reading of the world around him. A small map popped up on his HUD, to guide him to the rendezvous point. That in mind, E took off down the road, vanishing into a blur of silver, though slow enough so that he didn't create more work for his men to clear up.

"Bit ironic, don't you think?"

One of the armed soldiers glanced at his accompanying other, pausing in the middle of the alley. He made a small gesture, while still holding onto the rifle, for the other soldier to continue explaining.

"Oh.. you haven't been here long enough to hear the rumours, have you?"

A slight shake of his head was his answer.

"He.. never mind," The soldier replied shortly, bringing his sight forward once again and continuing down the alley. The other soldier remained where he had stopped for a few moments, before re-adjusting the hold on his rifle and quickly followed after his superior.

* * *

" _Something doesn't seem right."_

" _You've got some sort of metal wedged in your bone and possibly your nerves, Isaac. Nothing's going to see normal with that."_

" _Piss off, you know that's not what I meant,"_ Isaac snapped, the pair barely able to hear each other as they ran; hearts audibly giving beats in their ears, low pants coming out between words. While they weren't running as fast as normal, tearing up chunks of road, they were still running at a far greater speed than most humans could ever hope to reach on foot.

" _What did you mean then?"_ Matt asked, the pair going to turn on the apex of the latest corner, only to be forced to stop when they saw several soldiers down the other end of the street. When they came into sight, the soldiers opened fire; bullets flying past the two, and striking the ground just before them; they would have been struck if they hadn't skidded to a stop, creating grooves in the road. The pair quickly peddled backwards, turning and rushing off at high speed as the bullets continued to fly at them.

" _Maybe the fact that whenever we take a turn, like, four out of five times, they're there and shooting at us. And that one time we don't encounter them, they just leave us be?"_ Isaac questioned, taking the road opposite the one they had tried going down, eventually taking another corner to avoid any further bullets. Thankfully, they were lucky with this turn, no soldiers.

" _And we're knowingly going along with their plans? Can't see this ending well,"_ Matt uttered, the two getting lucky again and finding another corner soldier-free, tearing down before Isaac quickly staggered to a stop, gesturing for Matt to follow him as he took off down the nearest alley. Matt quickly chased after, though nearly fell over in his attempts to stop once again, else he fall into Isaac. He had taken up a hunched over position against the alley wall, taking deep breaths as he squeezed his injured shoulder.

" _Just... Just give me a sec,"_ Isaac grunted, leaning the helmet against the wall, eyes firmly closed as he grew accustomed to the sensation he hadn't felt entirely in quite some time.

Matt stood in the middle of the alley, just before Isaac, hands on his sides as he recovered his breath. He gestured to Isaac, saying, _"C'mon, let me have a look."_

Isaac rolled the helmet around to look at the other Warrior, and rolled it back to look down at his injured shoulder. Giving a quick nod, he slowly, carefully, eased the pressure off his injury, gritting his teeth and letting out a low hiss as the pain started to creep up. Matt moved in, one hand pressing Isaac's other shoulder back as to keep him from moving as he examined the wound a bit closer.

A hole, about the size of a large coin, tore through the armour, but there seemed to be traces of a strange metal embedded deep within the flesh. He didn't want to risk even attempting to extract it, he and Isaac were already on edge with each other as it was. He pulled Isaac away from the wall a few inches, moving his hand behind to search for an exit wound, the armour was smooth, relatively speaking, though he paused when he felt _something._ An uneven feeling, lying just beneath the armour, which led Matt to have a mildly uneasy feeling on what that meant.

" _Broken bone to some degree; MUTT's gonna have a fun time getting that together,"_ Matt muttered as he pulled back, no sooner had he done so that Isaac had replaced his hand.

" _He's gonna have to knock me out first,"_ Isaac grimaced quietly, fingers digging into the armour.

" _Where's the fun in that?"_ Matt questioned, expecting a chuckle to be his response. But he got nothing from Isaac, only silence.

Though it was swiftly broken when the pair heard close footsteps, but higher up, Matt glanced up just in time to see a pair of soldiers on one of the rooftops, aiming down at them. He grabbed Isaac and threw him to the other side of the alley just as bullets broke off chunks of the wall. _"Sorry 'bout that,"_ Matt muttered, not missing the several curses Isaac threw at him under his breath.

Bullets continued to strike the wall opposite them, large chunks beginning to fall off as the bullets hammered it off. _"We need to get out of here,"_ Matt stated, grabbing Isaac's other shoulder and dragged him out of the alley, and tried running along the street.

No sooner had they exited the alley, however, and turn the corner, they slide to a stop when the soldiers that had been down the road had now reached their position, aiming right at them. The pair of Warriors quickly backtracked, going to head up the other end of the road when they were stopped once again. More soldiers, trying to corner them in; the ones positioned on the roof moving in from behind, still on the roof, keeping the pair from going back into the alley. _"Well, that gives us plenty of options,"_ Matt uttered sarcastically, quickly gesturing for Isaac to follow once again as they rush down a small alley on the other side of the road, as bullets began firing again. The two dodged the bullets as best they could, tearing into the alley as bricks exploded upon being struck.

They stumbled to a stop on the other end of the alley, shifting into defensive positions when they found themselves surrounded by more D-13 soldiers, all armed with rifles, decked out in black clothes and body armour, balaclavas keeping everything but their eyes covered. "Freeze!"

" _This is really going from bad to worse, isn't it?"_ Matt whispered, partially raising his hands while Isaac was only able to raise a single hand; the other staying firmly on his shoulder.

" _I've got a feeling you've just screwed us over by saying that,"_ Isaac muttered back, looking around wearily at the men surrounding them. They were just standing there though, no bullets being fired, like they had been doing constantly during the chase. Now, though, they just aimed at them, not aiming down the sights to ensure a hit, just holding the rifle vaguely in their direction.

" _Why aren't they just shooting us?"_ Matt questioned lowly.

" _Something tells me they're not the ones that're going to try and kill us,"_ Isaac hypothesized.

" _What do you mean?"_

" _They were trying to get us down a particular set of roads and alleys; whenever we tried going down one they didn't want us going down, they were there and shooting at us. Now they're just…keeping us here. Or at least trying to. Only question now is…"_ Isaac trailed off.

" _Who's going to try and take us out?"_ Matt finished.

" _Silver guy?"_

" _He'd be here by now if it was him,"_ Matt debunked, quickly falling into silence as he focused in on radio static fading to indistinguishable chatter in one of the soldiers' ear pieces, hidden beneath the balaclava's.

That was when he saw it.

His eyes widened when he spotted the small sparkle atop one of the few remaining skyscrapers in this area of the city, many a Megazord fights had taken place here. But that sparkle was something Matt was sure wasn't good. If video games had taught him anything, anyway. He twisted his head ever so slightly, focusing his hearing specifically in that area, and he tensed when he heard the sound he had been dreading.

A rifle being chambered.

" _Isaac, get down!"_ Matt shoved Isaac aside, throwing him to the ground, as he stepped into the place Isaac had been standing moments ago.

And that was when the crack of thunder echoed across the city.

Time seemed to grind to a halt as Isaac raised himself up, and his eyes widened as he saw what had happened. The bullet - the crumpled, mushroomed remains flying through the air, coated in blood - had sailed through the air, tearing right through Matt's chest. The armour on both his front and back had been sliced through, blood splattering from both. The alley wall, the ground, Isaac's visor - Matt's blood covered it all.

Only as Matt fell to his knees, his arms falling limp at his sides, did time seem to resume to normal speed. Isaac quickly crawled over and managed to put his arm across to support Matt's back as the bloodied Warrior fell backwards, the back of his helmet coming to rest against Isaac's un-injured shoulder. Isaac's short, panicked breath, was overshadowed by Matt's gargled, shallow breath. Though he knew he couldn't remove his helmet, Isaac could tell that he was choking on something, a chilly sensation suggesting his own blood.

" _Matt! Stay with me!"_ Isaac said, giving slight shake's to Matt's shoulders as his good arm came around his side, trying to compress the front of the wound.

All the while, the soldiers ensured that there would be no sudden escape. Their balaclava's hiding any emotion that dare betray their true feelings of the scene that took place before them; two teens, one cradling the other in his arms, both shot in some degree.

" _You guys can back off a bit, no chance of either of them going anywhere far."_ The sudden voice came over their comms, and a few spared a glance behind and up at one of the few remaining skyscrapers. More looks were exchanged, this time between the soldiers, before they eventually eased their stances and took a few steps back. _"We don't need all five of them alive, and we'll catch the other three eventually."_

As Isaac continued to talk, both under his breath and with more pressured calls, to Matt jerking, shuddering form, the two were being viewed from a great distance away. The faintest trace of a cross-hairs visible through the glass, as the eye looking through the scope pulled back.

Clint, dressed in all black clothes and light body armour, had perked himself in one of the open windows of the skyscraper. He pulled the bolt back, expelling the previous cartridge and loading the next. He re-adjusted the scope and aimed down it again. Satisfied that the situation hadn't changed, Clint inhaled and adjusted his grip on the sniper, finger partially squeezing the trigger, ready to take a second shot. The cross-hairs resting solely on the chest of the Blue Ranger.

Two birds with one stone, as it were.

But just as he was about to shoot again, a flash of colour caught his attention, just in the corner of his vision down the scope. He pulled back, blinking a few times. He quickly activated the comms, saying, "Units, call in. Is there something down there?"

All he got was silence for a few seconds, before sudden shouts and grunts came over the comms. He quickly looked down the scope again, and his eyes widened and pulled back briefly. "What the fuck…" He mouthed, quickly looking down the scope again. Making sure that what he actually saw, _was_ what he actually saw.

Several of the men were already downed, with the remaining ones shooting at a blur of dark red that streaked across the area, each man that came into contact with the blur, guns went flying, broken in half, as the soldier was severely beaten and ended up crumpled on the ground. At first, Clint suspected it must have been the Red Ranger, and quickly shifted the scope back to where the two had been. That theory was quickly shut down, however, when he saw the two teens still slumped on the floor, one cradling the other in his arms. He tried focusing his scope on the blur of dark red, but found it was impossible to keep track of, only the trail of destruction that it left behind.

Only when the last man fell, when the last body was broken, did the blur come to a stop; and Clint got an eyeful of this new addition. And oh boy, did he get surprised with what he saw. "The fuck…" He mouthed, adjusting the scope again and looking through.

Though the blur's back was to him, several defining features were easy to pick out, for one, the large frame combined with wide shoulders, an indication of built in, genetic strength. But a more important feature was the fur, though partially hidden by the scratched crimson armour all over, thick black fur filled in the spaces that wasn't already covered. And the back of the head was connected by a thick, muscular, thick-furred neck, which led up to a set of pointed, canine-esque ears. A waist clack, looking something like leather, protecting the back of its leg, if they were anything like the rest of the body, Clint had a good idea what they looked like.

Clint watched as the new.. thing crouch beside the two Rangers, possibly exchanging a few words? Clint couldn't make out any visible mouth movement on the creature. He had to pull back and close to his eyes when a flash of light encased the three creatures, else he risk his sight getting permanently damaged in the one eye. By the time the light faded and Clint looked back, the three had vanished, all that remained was the unconscious bodies they had left behind.

"E?" Clint asked, changing frequencies on his chest radio. "We've got.. a new development, you could say…"

* * *

" _Guys! We need help here!"_

Isaac had, somehow, managed to get to his feet during the teleportation, supporting Matt's arm over his shoulders. He stumbled forward a few steps, the mystery figure hanging back from the time being. In the current state they were in, Isaac hadn't been thinking clearly when he had accepted this person's help, but right now, that wasn't the first thought right now.

MUTT and Natalie came running through a set of sliding doors, though the latter quickly slid to a stop, tensing when she saw the mystery, crimson-clad armour, and Isaac and Matt's bloodied and limp bodies. MUTT, however, quickly moved in and scooped Matt up from Isaac's side. Carrying him as though he weighed nothing, MUTT carried Matt across the room, and placed him on a rising examination table, hooking him up to several scans and readings as he examined the wound.

As the unsteady rhythm of Matt's heartbeat sounded through the machine, Natalie moved over to Isaac, who had slowly leaned against the nearest wall, his bloodied shoulder bleeding anew. "Isaac?" She asked lowly, somewhat unease as to the lack of a response from Isaac as she neared, and spoke. She raised, and slowly waved her hand in front of his visor. Though it was slow, Isaac did lift his head up at the movement directly in front of his eyes.

" _Hey…"_ Isaac greeted lowly, resting the side of his head against the wall.

Natalie spared a look of concern for Isaac, glancing across at his wound again, before her eyes shifted to the crimson-clad figure standing at the back of the room. He had still yet to move, remaining in place, like a statue. His arms folded across his armoured chest, a strange protrusion from his mouth, resembling the shape of a blocky muzzle, concealed by a full-face mask. A diagonal crack worked its way across mask, working over the burning yellow eyes, and coming to a stop over the other side of the muzzle portion of the mask.

"Who are you?" Natalie asked, stepping out from in front of Isaac and fully facing this creature. Her body tensed momentarily when he moved, getting off from the wall and standing straight.

" _ **I would have thought, with all you're training, you would have identified me by now,"**_ The figure stated, his voice seemingly heavily modified, but there was a defiant tone behind the layers that Natalie immediately picked up on.

"…Savage?"

Both Isaac and MUTT perked up at Natalie's faint voice, both turning to look. The mystery figure stood there for a few seconds longer, before raising his hands and grabbed either side of his mask. Two clasps were unlocked, and removed from his face. Revealing the wolfish face of Savage.

Natalie's mouth partially dropped, but Savage cut her off, "We'll discuss this later." At that moment, the other three's attention is quickly drawn to the blaring alarm started flashing.

" _We're losing him,"_ MUTT informed, causing the three to quickly move in, Isaac albeit being slightly sluggish and almost falling over entirely before reaching the edge of the examination bed.

MUTT's fingers were coated in a thin layer of blood, blood covering most of the surgical tools he had been using. There was just blood everywhere. Matt was still encased in his Blue Beta armour, though his helmet had been put aside and the wires fed against his neck, his chest torn open by the bullet, with MUTT trying to work in the tight confines provided by the hole. And as suggested by the high rises and falls of his punctured chest, combined with the laboured breaths that came with it, his condition was degrading as MUTT informed.

Isaac tried taking a step closer, but ended up collapsing to one knee; he grabbed the edge of the table, shrugging off Natalie's attempts to help. _"C... C'mon, MUTT.. y.. you can save him…"_

"Isaac, seriously, just rest. You're in no position to-"

" _Shut up! I'm not.. not letting him go.. go through this alone…"_ Isaac half-mumbled, half-growled, the hand resting on the edge of the bed clenching into a fist. _"H... He's not going through this alone.. not this…"_

"What the fuck are you talking about, Isaac? Let MUTT do his job!" Natalie said, trying to drag Isaac back to his feet. But he refused, shrugging off Natalie's attempts to drag him away.

During this exchange of movement, and raised voices, Savage had moved around the room, bringing the cracked, crimson mask on one of the counters, as he moved to MUTT's side to examine the surgery. All the while, he grew more and more irritated with the squabbling on the other side of the table.

All of the noise suddenly turned dead silent when a low _thud_ echoed out through the room, the three organics quickly looking for the source while MUTT continued to work on Matt's injury. His work started to became more frantic when Matt's vitals continued to degrade, his heart-rate starting to fade.

"No.. it's too late," Savage suddenly stated, placing a hand on MUTT's shoulder. He removed it a few seconds after, attempting to block out the sudden protests from the two humans, as he bent down and grabbed something, possibly the cause of the thud. When he got back up, Natalie and Isaac both fell silent and eyes widened. In Savage's large, clawed paw of a hand, was Matt's Blue Howler, the faint glow usually present in the eye of the wolf head was faded to a much duller shade.

"H.. How's that possible? You couldn't get those things off with a crowbar!" Natalie exclaimed, quickly snatching the Howler from Savage's paws before he could stop her.

As she walked back around the table, Isaac pushing himself up enough to get a look, Savage folded his arms behind his back as he spoke. "There was only one way that these Howlers could be removed from the wielder and, regrettably, that way.. is Death."

" _What?"_ Isaac asked gruffly, taking the Howler from Natalie and looked it over himself, roughly bringing it down to the table, supporting himself with both arms on the table. _"What.. kind of fucking design flaw is that?"_ He questioned through grit teeth, grabbing Matt's gloved hand and grasped it with both of his.

"It was to ensure that the Warrior wielding them would fight to their last breath, quite.. literally," Savage replied, finishing with a low exhale.

Regardless of Savage's previous orders, MUTT had returned to working on improving Matt's condition, but with laboured coughs, Matt's body started to unravel from his, as it turned out, not completely secure armour. Much like a dissolving effect, layers and sections of the Blue Beta armour began to peel off. Revealing the body beneath, showing the true damage done to Matt's body. His shirt had been reduced to shreds, centring on the entry wound in the middle of his chest, what little fabric remained in shape was soaked in blood. His skin had dropped a few shades from the blood loss, and he let out low, gasping breaths.

As the last bits of his armour faded, the hand clasped by both of Isaac's, Matt tried speaking, but only coughs and small droplets of blood escaped his mouth. _"Na... Nah, Matt.. save your breath.. don't.. talk…"_ Isaac insisted, clenching his hands tighter around Matt's.

"I... I-Isaac…" Matt choked out, managing to twist his head to turn his head, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth and down his cheek. His eyes seemed unfocused, not looking at anything in particular.

" _Hey.. s.. save your.. breath,"_ Isaac pressed, bringing one hand off the back of Matt's, only to lightly clap it back into place. _"MUTT's gonna.. gonna work on fixing you up, yeah? Y... You're a fighter, yeah?"_ Though it was almost untraceable, a slight break in Isaac's tone gave away his true feelings behind that helmet.

A weak chuckle came from Matt, interrupted by a series of hacking, bloodied coughs. Once they had died down enough, Matt managed to speak, "Don't.. don't bullshit, Isaac.. just.. promise me.. one thing…"

" _C'mon.. don't talk like that.. you're not dying today,"_ Isaac said, giving small shakes of his head, almost as though he was trying to convince himself as well as Matt.

"Promise... Promise me, f.. fucker…" Matt groaned, his head falling back into place, coughing as the final shreds of life started to fade.

" _Fine.. w.. what do you want?"_ Isaac questioned, as Matt's hand dropped from his and made a grab from Isaac's armour. With the last few ounces of strength, the readings starting to fade, Matt managed to drag Isaac up enough to bring him partially over him. Through low gasps and coughs, Matt whispered against the side of Isaac's helmet, so low that even Natalie and Savage struggled to make out words.

The grip sudden fell limp, his hand falling back. The single-toned, continuous _beep_ of the heart monitor echoing off of the walls.

Natalie raised her hand to cover her mouth, choking back a quiet sob, as Savage and MUTT stood in silence on the opposite side of the table, MUTT only moving to deactivate the readings, allowing total silence to fill the room.

Isaac slowly pulled out from Matt's unmoving face, his eyes partially rolled back and skin already beginning to drop another few shades. "W... What did he say?"

The Red-clad human turned slightly to look at Natalie, when she noticed how he was growing unsteady, even partially slumped on the table. _"H... He wa.. wanted…"_ Isaac started, trailing off and actually failing to finish. His vision started to fade to black, and the last thing he could remember was Natalie shouting his name, with the ceiling of the roof coming into view and then…

Nothing. Blackness.

 **Epilogue**

A door slid open silently, a figure stepping into the room. But no steps sounded as they entered the room; just a constant, low-tuned buzz as they made their way across the room.

" _Sire?"_ A robotically-altered voice questioned as the buzz came to a stop. The only noticeable light produced within the room came from the number of small readings across the walls and several control modules in the middle of the room. Two large, wall-length windows split the walls of readings and decorative metal. Standing in front of one of these windows, another figure looked out, arms clasps behind his back, many details obscured by the black trench coat covering his body. Though faint, several red accents could be made out at the edges of the fabric.

"Sebastian... I have told you about interrupting me during battle... I need, focus, to ensure the enemy follows their predictable paths." A voice stated, calculated and cold.

Outside the window, in the dark void of space, the figure watched the ensuing battle taking place, at the far end of the space battlefield, a command ship remained in place, several smaller carriers releasing fighters. These fighters streaked across space, yellow blaster bolts shooting from their cannons. Their target, another set of ships, though instead of the sleek, grey steel design of the fighters, these fighters looked more.. organics fused with tech. Shades of brown feeding into old steel, the entire shape looking like an unholy fusion between nature and steel.

As a set of these different fighters streaked across the window, persuade by another set of the sleeker fighter, the other figure gave a response. _"You asked me to keep you informed about any updates on the.. ongoing investigations, sire."_

This brought one of the figure's hands from behind his back, rising up to stroke the underside of his chin, his mind split between processing all of the events going on before him, another sleek fighter blowing up, while the other half took in this new information and began going through all of the possibilities this could lead to.

"And?"

" _It is the Energy trace from Sector Sigma-Twelve. It has been reactivated, and its location has changed. Quite a bit."_

"Where is it's currently location?" The other figure questioned, eyes darting across the battlefield as another set of the sleek ships were destroyed, and the organic/tech fusion fighters took off to attack one of the cruisers. As explosions silently rang out across the carriers' top, the sleek fighters moving to intercept, the figure made note and a small smirk tugged at the corner of his lip.

As predicted, the Commander wasn't one to hang back on the command cruiser, overseeing the battle. Too focused on the single moment; not the whole picture.

" _Sector Zeta-One."_

"Earth?" The figure questioned, turning partially to look at the other. Revealing the faintest red glow where his eye should be.

" _Yes, sire."_

The figure turned back to fully face the battle, his hands slipping behind his back and clasping one another; fingers drumming against the forearm of the other. A low exhale came from his nose. "It's always Earth, isn't it? That blue planet.. it has seen far more battles than it is worthy of. Hmm.. the Federation is on the retreat, one fleet cruiser disabled. They will focus their efforts on evacuating the cruiser. Commander Treval is on that vessel, all escape pods must be destroyed before the cruiser itself."

"Sebastian, activate the Warp Drive. This energy source is greater than anything I have encountered before, so we cannot allow it to fall into the wrong hands," The figure finished, walking away from the window and towards the sliding doors. A faint limp to his step as he walked.

" _Yes sire,"_ Sebastian replied, quickly turning and falling the other figure out of the bridge, zipping through the door, the distant lights of explosions and blaster bolts lighting up the room as they shot past the windows.

* * *

 **So...yeah, this episode happened. What d'you guys think? R &R!**

 **-Nf991**


	18. Episode 17 - The Crimson Warrior

Episode 17 – The Crimson Warrior

"How did you get us to agree to come along on this?"

"C'mon, this is great! What's not to like about this?"

"I don't know… The sun burning my hair off, the fact that Rick is busy chucking up over the side."

"Yeah.. but think of the prize at the end of it!"

Eddie shook his head slightly, scratching the back of his neck as he moved out from the shaded area of the boat. The waves rocked against the sides, which only elected more gagging from Eddie at the other side of the boat, all Eddie saw was the camo shorts, legs and sandals he decided to wear. He came to a stop at the railing of the ship, arms crossed over the edge, looking out over the vast Gulf surrounding them. "But, seriously? Gulf of Mexico? What the fuck are we going to find here?"

"Hey, a friend of mine said he found something I might find interesting down here. And he said this was the exactly location!" the third member of their party exclaimed; or as Eddie saw, the entire reason he was dragged into doing this.

"What is it with you and not leaving well enough alone? The Governments going to be hunting your ass when they find out all the shit you've collected over the years, Mark."

"We've all got to have a hobby, Ed. Mine.. just so happens to be collecting stuff the Government 'claims' to be illegal just so they could get it," Mark replied, coming up beside his friend and leaned over the side, a baseball cap shading his bearded face from the burning sun. He produced a tablet from behind him, tapping the screen and handing it to Eddie. "But hey, look on the bright side; the trip shouldn't be any longer. We've reached the estimated location."

Eddie glanced down and took the tablet; showing the vast sea they were currently in, with a couple of points highlighted. Where they were supposed to reach, and their boat; both pretty much sitting on top one another. "And how exactly do you supposed we're going to get this? It's not exactly within arm's reach."

"Lucky this ship came with one of those unmanned subs, eh?" Mark smirked, taking the tablet back and switching between the apps. "Why'd you think I got us to stop just a bit before we got here?"

Eddie's hands dropped, looking over his shoulder. "You really need to get a different hobby, you know that? Like.. modelling or some shit."

"Modelling gets boring though - with this, you never know what you're.. wow!"

"What is it?" Eddie pushed off the railing and moved over to Mark, trying to look over his shoulder; since whatever he was so surprised by was showing up on the tablet. This was proved pointless, though, when Mark turned around and presented the tablet to him.

"You see this shit?!" Mark exclaimed, a crazed grin tugging at the corners of his mouth.

Eddie took the tablet in his hands, with Mark still holding it, and tiled it to a better angle to avoid the glare of the sun. His eyes widened and his mouth partially dropped at the pictures that were coming in. "What the fuck is that?" He asked, looking up as Mark turned the tablet back around to look at it himself.

"By the looks of it, it's got to be what I'm looking for! Can't think of anything else that would create this, this.. whatever you'd call this. Where'd you think this one is from? Reckon this is something from the Machine Empire?"

"Hell no, they're called 'Machine Empire' for a reason. This is.. something that isn't that," Eddie replied, taking the tablet again to look over the images.

The first thing that he was met with was the gleaming metal of this find; it must have been underwater for God knows how long, yet to Eddie, it looked as though it was as good as new. From what the pictures could show, it was part a humanoid's body, including the head and face, half of which was covered in this rustproof metal. The other half. "I've no idea what it's supposed to be. Rick, what'd you think.

…

"Rick?" Eddie turned around to look around at the rest of the boat, Mark doing the same, but the pair of them couldn't see their third friend. "Shit, did he fall in?" He asked, quickly handing the tablet back and moving to the side of the ship, looking over the edge. But all he was met with was shallow waves rocking against the side of the ship. "Rick!"

"He's probably gone below deck to see if any beer can settle in his stomach," Mark assured, quickly moving over to the edge beside Eddie. "You seeing some sort of feline in this thing or is it just me?"

"I don't care about that right now, shithead. Rick!" Eddie called, quickly pushing the tablet aside and headed below deck, leaving Mark as the only one up on deck. He leaded against the railing, turning the camera attached to the submerged vehicle, in the depths below them. He then picked up on something, flicking his wrist gave him a glance at his watch, and he flicked his eyes back at the tablet.

"Thirty second delay.. the fuck kind of shit is this?" Mark muttered under his breath, tapping his watch. "Last time I rent something from a Mexican…"

A sudden splash caught his attention, and he looked up from the tablet. "Rick?" He asked, looking around nearly all of the boat's deck. That didn't include the area behind the cabin, and he was sure he could see movement behind it. "Yeah, yeah. Really funny Rick," Mark called, quickly moving around the side of the cabin to the back of the boat.

His sudden shout was cut short with the landing of a blow, streaks of blood splashing across the back window.

Down below deck, Eddie heard a shout that was abruptly cut short. "Mark? Rick?" He called, stepping out from the small kitchen of the boat, looking towards the doors that led out to above deck. He slowly approached, still put off by the fact that he hadn't got a response yet. "Seriously guys, stop pissing around. I swear to God, this is the last time I let you drag me into shit like this."

He approached the door, pushing it open and stepping out onto the deck. Looking around, he saw no sign of his two friends. "Dick move, guys. Dick move." Eddie stepped out entirely, standing before the front of the cabin. He moved out to the side of the boat, double-checking to see if the pair of them had actually fallen into the water. But as he did though, he was made aware of the towering shadow standing behind him. Flexing his fingers around the railings, he slowly turned around and was met with-

"Ah!" He exclaimed, quickly getting silenced when a clawed hand sliced across his face and neck, splattering blood across the deck of the boat, and his body fell, lifeless, to the ground.

And standing above his body, a large creature stood, it's mostly metal body polished to perfection, like it had never been exposed to any sort of weather. Like it had just been taken from a factory. The few parts that weren't covered in this shiny metal, was instead covered with thick, dark tan fur, the side of the torso, no signs of deterioration, obviously hiding powerful muscles beneath. One arm was also free of metal, muscles barely hidden by the fur, thinning out slightly when it came to his clawed hand, clenching into a fist. Human blood trickling from the claw tips.

Its head was the part of his body that was mostly organic, only a quarter of its head, including the top right corner of the head and the right eye, was encased in metal. The fur was mostly dark tan, with a few lighter shades around the muzzle and single organic eye, the other eye replaced with a single, glowing red one.

" _Orders received,"_ Came a robotic, artificial voice, despite the actual mouth being organic in origin - it turned towards the distant shoreline. Immediately, the cybernetic eye focused in, running several calculations through its head; distance, time it would take, and all other relative calculations. It then turned to the controls of the vessel it had landed on, systematically working on how the controls worked and stepped up to the control podium.

" _Power source located. Heading towards location."_

Fingers flexed around the power switch, applying full throttle and turning the boat back to the nearest shoreline. Spray kicking up as the engines propelled the ship forward.

* * *

MUTT quietly tapped away at a small keyboard, resting on a small podium drawn out from the side of the wall. The only relatively present sound came from the pair of heartrate monitors, not in sync, hooked up the pair of injured male teenagers. Isaac and Kyle were lying on identical beds, both medically kept unconscious, as thick, bloodied bandages wrapped around their shoulder and abdomen respectively. Their exposed flesh, from the waist up, revealed the scared, lean torsos, Savage's training had been paying off. MUTT had already done what he could to heal them, but there was something much more pressing, in his processors….

He carefully grabbed and raised a small petri dish, inside, small metal shrapnel. He turned it slightly, sending the shards rattling to one side, leaving blood smeared against the plastic. He turned it back level when the door slid open, and someone stepped in.

"How is their condition?" Savage asked, arms folded behind his back. Still clad in his crimson-clad armour, sans mask.

" _Stable, for now,"_ MUTT answered, tapping a final key and sending the podium back into the wall. He turned around, petri dish still in hand as Savage came into complete view. _"I've managed to extract these fragments from the pair of them. I haven't got around to extracting any fragments from Matthew's body yet, though I will get around to it shortly."_

Savage slowly nodded, glancing down to the contained fragments. "Good, good.. there are traditions that must be followed. Respect for the dead…"

" _We should leave them rest. I can examine these fragments, and we can inform the other two of the current situation,"_ MUTT informed, gesturing towards the door Savage had just entered through. Savage glanced across at the two recovering humans, before he nodded. The two quietly left, MUTT deactivating the lights and keep the environment peaceful, should his calculations be slightly off and the aesthetic wear off earlier than expected. Not that he expected them to, though.

The two walked the short corridor connecting this room to the main sector of the Den, lights lining the length, giving off just the right amount of light to provide good vision. Though this also highlighted the many claw marks, etched into the floor by Savage's constant walking to and fro. Eventually, they reached another door and walked through as it slid open, revealing the main section, where all of MUTT's equipment was all unorganized and computers were active.

And, as it happened, the place where Tanya and Natalie had taken up temporary residence. Slumping against the most comfortable equipment, their bodies a combined mess of previously healed scars and fresh cuts plastered, one of the more noticeable plasters across one of Tanya's cheeks. The door sliding open caught their attention, and both quickly got to their feet.

"How are they?" Natalie asked, rolling the sleeves of her jacket back down, hiding the scarred and bandaged arms. Tanya looked to the pair expectantly, awaiting answers just like Natalie; though it was clear, by the way the look of desperate hope shared between the pair, they their minds weren't just focused on Kyle and Isaac…

" _Isaac and Kyle are recovering and resting as of now. Matt…"_ MUTT paused briefly, his readings picking up the faintest changes in the readings of the two females, increased heartrate, the slightest movements, eye movement. _"Matt.. 's body has been moved to another room, to ensure preservation until Savage makes a start on the traditions of.. honouring the dead."_

"Please, just.. just stop calling him.. that," Natalie insisted, raising a hand to emphasis her point. She quickly brought it back to wipe the underside of her eyes with the thumb. She slowly sank down to sit on the chunky block of tech she had been sat on before, both her hands coming up to support her head. "How? H... How did this happen? I thought you said there was nothing human-made that could get through that armour!"

" _That is what I am hoping to find out,"_ MUTT informed, producing the same petri dish he had shown Savage a few minutes ago. _"I have extracted these bits of shrapnel from the three males, and I believe I can make sense of how these Humans have developed these."_

MUTT quickly moved behind a set of computers, Savage joining him, clearing a space by sliding a load of unused tech onto the floor, creating a great noise and sending screws and nuts flying across the room. MUTT tried sparing a look of distaste for Savage's lack of respect for his equipment, but his blank head made it difficult to express any sort of emotion, merely getting on with the job, taking the petri dish top off and carefully extracted one of the larger fragments. It fell into a thin flask, hooked up to the nearest computer, and MUTT immediately began tapping away commands into the keyboard; the bottom of the flask, connected to an electronic base, started glowing a faint red. The screen began rolling at an alarming rate, taking apart the chemical and physical components of the fragments.

"What's I... How's Isaac?" Tanya eventually asked, stepping up to the other side of the desk to Savage and MUTT, leaning over, though her eyes didn't have a chance to keep track of what was flying past the screen.

" _His condition is stable for the time being, the bullet was removed, with a broken collarbone. Though I highly suspect that he is mostly suffering from physiological injures at the same time, under the conditions he was under, as well as the situation, it wouldn't be a surprise. And judging from his current state, I suspect I am correct,"_ MUTT answered, simultaneously replying to Tanya while working on the computer.

Tanya gave a small nod, appreciatively of the answer, before quietly departed, slipping through the sliding doors. Neither Savage nor MUTT questioned, and Natalie assumed they all shared the same idea. So, getting to her feet slowly, she wondered over to the desk Tanya had just left, one arm being held by the other, and watched as MUTT kept up with the rapid pace of the screen. "How the hell do you keep up with that?"

" _Processing power in my chassis allows me to process almost seven and three-quarters times faster than the above-average human,"_ MUTT replied, Natalie finding something to keep her mind from wandering back to the darker thoughts.

At that moment though, a small alarm came from one of the computers behind Savage and MUTT, though Natalie noted how it wasn't an alarm she usually heard when in this place. Savage side glanced at MUTT, and vice versa, before Savage moved off and went to investigate the lower, less glaring alarm. "That alarm ever happen before? Never heard it sound before," Natalie questioned, leaning forward slightly, engrossing herself in the fact that MUTT could maintain the conversation while working furiously.

" _This alarm hasn't sounded since you've been selected, no. From what I can gather, some of the alarms are linked to specific wavelength signatures, mostly Demonic-originating alarms have sounded, as you might have guessed. This one, howe-"_

MUTT was harshly cut short when a snarl tore through the relative silence, and he and Natalie quickly ducked to avoid a flying computer monitor. Luckily, the only thing it struck was the wall, glass smashing into a couple dozen pieces and the crooked metal frame came to rest on the ground.

"What the fuck, man?!" Natalie exclaimed, using the table to hoist herself back up. MUTT turned back as well, and took a small step back as Savage came into view.

Hunched over slightly, clawed hands digging into the desk, Savage's shoulder hackles bristled, despite the armour covering most of his body, it was still visible between the armour plates. A low snarl ripping from his throat, vibrating through his body and echoing off the walls. "I will deal with this one, _myself,"_ Savage stated, pushing off the desk and turning around on the spot, claw-shaped holes torn into the desk becoming visible.

MUTT tried to step forward, to gain information about the cause to this, but Savage roughly shoved him aside and sent him back into one of the desks. Savage just stormed through the door, barely giving it enough time to fully open, leaving MUTT and Natalie, wondering what caused this sudden outburst of anger, MUTT physically righting himself off of the desk he had been pushed against.

"What's his problem?" Natalie asked, quickly moving around the desk and helping MUTT onto his feet.

" _I don't know,"_ MUTT replied, giving a slight nod to in appreciation to Natalie's help, before moving over to the remains of the computer and keyboard, carefully taking the shredded keyboard in hand, looking them over. To Natalie, it looked almost…like he was saddened by the damage.

" _I have his readings, however,"_ MUTT continued, gathering the larger parts and moving them to one side; moving across the room afterwards, Natalie stepping aside, as he moved to grab the clunky, smashed monitor. _"His heartrate had increased by twenty beats a second, an increased amount of adrenaline feeding into his brain.. there is a 72% chance that Savage, somehow, knew.. whatever was coming up on the readings."_

"But I thought you said there hadn't been any of those alarms before?" Natalie asked, feeling the need to help; gathering up a few of the smaller pieces of computer shrapnel into one area.

" _Exactly. Whatever Savage reacted to.. only he knew what it was."_

* * *

Entering through into the Throne Cavern, Death made his presence known to the sitting Master and pacing Batibat, the remnants of a portal's green glow fading behind him. "I can now confirm that the Blue Warrior has passed beyond my Abyss," He said, coming to a stop and slipping into a one knee kneeling position before the Master's Throne.

Batibat had paused in her pacing across the length of the Throne room, and by the time Death spoke, turned back around to properly hear the claim. Her arms unfolded to her sides, one hand resting on her hip as she asked, "Passed beyond your Abyss? And you didn't grab him before he moved beyond?"

"You think I didn't try?" Death asked, a sliver of malice in his words as he twisted his head to glance over his shoulder. "But it appears the Warriors are being.. protected, even beyond their physical forms."

"Zeta?"

Though in that moment, Batibat realized her words and her eyes widened; even Death's hand clenched in what could only be described as fear. The air around them grew cold, the few speckles of flowing fabric seemingly freezing in mid-air as the temperature continued to drop. Death turned his head back slowly to face the Master, unmoving for fear of an attack for Batibat's slipup. A low, unearthly growl echoed from underneath the shadow-covered head of the Master, two bony fingers of one fist supporting the side of his hood, while the other was firmly gripped around the skull that sat at the end of the arm rest.

After a few moments though, the fragments started to flow freely again, and the temperature rose ever so slowly, not that it was that warm to begin with. But both Death and Batibat felt the pressure around their non-existent hearts ease ever so slightly; they seemed to be spared the Master's wrath.. for now.

"Yes.. I highly suspect," Death finally answered, quickly rising to his feet and giving a slight brush to his robes. "It appears that way."

"There is.. also something else," Death continued, turning around momentarily to ensure that Batibat was paying attention to his words. "There is.. another lifeform that has made itself known in the Human Realm."

Batibat raised an eyebrow slightly, bringing one of her daggers out to casually spin around her fingers. "And what is it about _this_ lifeform that you think it significant enough to speak of in the presence of the Master?" she asked, grabbing the handle of the dagger as it came around.

"Because this one didn't grow and develop, like Human scents do. This one.. just existed."

"What are you talking about, Death?" Batibat questioned, stepping up to stand alongside Death, the two Warlords standing before the Master.

"What I'm saying, is that this creature.. isn't of this Planet. His scent came from beyond this World."

" _ **The One from Beyond the Gods' Grasp."**_

Both Death and Batibat looked up to their Master in respect of his words, though the pair were a tad confused by his words. Did this mean the Master knew of this creature where the two of them did not? Not that either of them were going to start question their Master, though, merely hoping that he would share any information he had on this creature with his two trusted Warlords.

" _ **Death, go to the Human Realm. Inform me of any.. significant updates on what it is doing,"**_ Horror ordered, bringing his head up from the fingers it was resting against, bringing his back up straight and returning it to the other skull-ended armrest. _**"This.. creature will prove to be nothing but a small speck in the grand plan, but it may prove useful to.. erase it before it can became a thorn."**_

"Yes, my Master," Death replied, giving a slight bow in acknowledgement to the command, briskly turning on the spot and departing without another word spared. His last sighting was going through another portal, sealing shut after he had walked through it.

There was a brief silence as Batibat switched between glancing up to her Master and looking around the semi-bare walls of the Throne Room. She couldn't tell what was going through the Masters' mind when silence was all that filled the Realm; a being such as him…such power…

"Master?" she asked after another few seconds.

A low, rumbling grunt came from under the hood; it wasn't much, but it made her aware that the Master was paying attention. Relatively speaking, anyway.

"I've.. had a thought, about this creature. Perhaps.. could it be Fear's work?" she questioned, folding her hands behind the small of her back as she spoke. "We have not heard of him for quite some time now, so perhaps.. this could be his work?"

Horror slowly turned his head down to look at Batibat, causing her to take a small step back under his glaring look. As the glare grew longer, the further Batibat shrank back from her original position; casting her eyes down, her dagger long since returned to the small hilt beneath her robes. _**"No… This is not the work of Fear."**_

"If… If you are sure, Master…which I am entirely sure you are…" Batibat stated, trying to word it carefully to ensure that it didn't come across as an afterthought or anything like that.

" _ **I know it not to be… Fear is, occupied, at this current time. This is not his work."**_

* * *

Silence was all that was in the city, not a human to be seen or heard. Only the wind provided any sort of sound, brushing discarded garbage across the ground like tumbleweeds. A lone, double page spread newspaper was picked up by the wind, getting tossed through the air and tumbled across the ground, only coming to a stop when it collided with something.

Though it quickly moved past, unwrapping itself from Savage's leg and made its way further down the street and out of sight. Savage's head turned slowly, taking in the abandoned territory of the Humans, the stone settlements, far larger than anything Savage had seen, in person, before. He inhaled slowly, taking in the relatively cool air through his mask, eyes opening fully again. Letting out a low breath, he continued walking; he had only come to a stop when he had entered the city, observing it in person for the first time.

The wind caught what little fur was exposed through the few fine gaps in his armour, the same wind also catching the leather waist cape. It carried several scents his way, the heavy, earthy smell of Humans was still very much present, despite the population of the city long gone. Humans always had a scent that stuck to everything they touched, something Savage had come to know a long time ago, back.. back then…

"No," Savage grunted under his breath, giving a slight shake of his head. As though trying to shake some lingering thoughts from his mind. "Now is not the time…"

Savage came to a stop, now finding himself a good distance away from where he had entered the city, not quiet the exact centre, but getting there. He gave a short look around the area, finding several buildings with a mostly transparent front, displaying many different.. products, the teenagers called it. What was the word that they used for these types of buildings? Small, glass-fronted.. displaying their collection like trophies of War.

' _Stores,'_ Savage told himself, his eyes glancing across a few of the products that were on display. None were anything notable to him.. until he got to the last one.

To the majority that would past the store front, they would just pass it off as a cheap, run-of-the-mill stuffed deer toy, about the size of a small human, and didn't appear to be made of the best materials. But for Savage, something more than this.. factory-acrylic waste stuffed product. Side-tracked momentarily, Savage took a few steps closer to the window, flicking his waist cape aside as he knelt down. One hand raised against the glass, Savage took a much closer look at the stuffed animal, looking beyond what was physically present before him.

He closed his eyes again, trying, in vain, to stop the blocked off memories from coming forward, but found himself unable to stop them. Like the deer was some sort of.. trigger, setting it off.

"Val…" He said quietly, dropping to both knees before the glass.

* * *

 _The stuffed deer's head slowly turned around, so it was hanging upside down and a smudge of blood around its parted mouth, the artificial fur blurring into a much more realistic pelt. The head swayed back and forth, with the movement of the creature carrying it. Small specks of the dead creatures' blood were smeared across the armour, though thanks to the already crimson-splattered all across, it didn't stand out too much._

 _Large paws stepping across thinly grassed areas, trenching across mud patches constantly between the much fewer grass patches, leaving large, four-toed prints in its tracks. The leather cape around his waist brushing against the taller grass and bushes, the first few specks of mud beginning to stick to the edges._

 _The figure came to a sudden stop, lupine ears perking up and swiveled with the subtle movements of his head. The elongated muzzle twitched slightly, the scent of the deer around his broad shoulders becoming muddled through another, overwhelming scent hitting him like a boulder. His dark yellow eyes darted across the treeline before him._

 _"Val?" He called, slowly kneeling down and shuffling the kill off his shoulders, setting it down on the ground to his side. Only the wind gave him a low, breath of a response. "Val? Trig? I've warned you, Trig. Now is not the time for toying," He continued, a slight edge to his tone as a growl bubbled at the back of his throat. Still, no response was given to him. He opened his mouth partly to give a final warning when a blood-curdling howl tore through the still air._

 _Humans would take it as just a howl, the sound that would become synonymous with terror and fear._

 _Savage, however, could hear through the spectrum and picked out specific tone; and his eyes widened. He leapt to his feet, the deer's carcass forgotten for now, as he tore across the grass and mud; muddy patches of grass tearing off the ground, coiling up on the rest when it came to rest. He tore through the trees, more mud getting kicked up at the sheer speed he was running at, just a crimson-blur shooting across the forest._

 _When he broke through the last line of trees, he forced himself to a shuddering stop; kicking up small mounds of dirt and grass at his paws._

 _Across the land in front of him, bodies were littered across the ground. Blood stained the grass and their furs, multiple wounds opened across their armour less forms. Some broad shouldered, some slimmer build; some younger, some older. All life gone from their fogged over eyes, partially close. Immediately, Savage took a step back, his breathing grown heavier as memories started flooding back; war-torn landscapes, fallen brothers…it took him a few moments to pull himself back, shaking his head back into the now._

 _"Val… Val!" he shouted, running forward, being respectful of the dead, minding where he stepped and moved around the bodies. He moved further into the territory, keeping his muzzle close to ensure the surroundings wouldn't trigger further flashbacks or possible breakdowns. He took a path through the territory he had taken more times than he could count; nothing like this had been experienced by him before, though. When he came to the end of the path he had walked back and forth, he was struck cold in his tracks._

 _The cave, that was usually so well kept and maintained, was blood-soaked; the dirt and blood mixture seeping from a specific body. The build was lithe, yet well built, small muscles hidden beneath the charcoal-coloured, blood-stained fur. Savage rushed forward, sliding onto his knees beside the body; slipping his arm behind the small of her back, bringing the upper half into his cradling arms._

 _"Val.. Val!" Savage whispered, bringing his other hand to the side of her smooth neck, feeling for something, anything, that proved she was alive. But no matter where he pressed two fingers, he felt.. nothing. Just the pressing matter of how.. cold she felt. His breathing grew shallow and frantic, pulling the body closer to him, the blood staining the leather armour she wore across her torso smearing across his already crimson-stained armour, further embedding the colour into the armour. "No… No-No-No. Not… Not you… Not you too, please…" He rocked the body back and forth with his own, continuing the soft whispering under his breath. Ears folded back, his fingers curling around the shoulder of the female's body._

* * *

A sudden, forceful impact struck the ground beneath Savage's crouched form.

" _Well.. you're definitely a strange specimen, aren't you?"_

* * *

 ** _Earlier..._**

"Are we sure that we can confirm the kill, Clint? Since it's not likely that they're going to come back into the city after that," E questioned, hands in his pockets, as he and Clint walked through the street. The scene around them was in the closing up phase; equipment was being packed away, body bags, both empty and zipped up, were loaded up into the back of respective trucks, and armed soldiers stood at either end of the streets. The two walked among all this, E without his Silver armour, that had been left beside one of the vehicles he knew was stationary for the time being.

"It was a straight through and through; I saw the bullet come out and smash into one of the bricks. You could probably see when we head back there," Clint replied, sniper rifle long gone but he was still wearing the light body armour that he had been wearing he was up in the building, taking the shot. "Trust me, E, he's as good as dead."

"Good, good.. perhaps that will tie up one loose end," E replied, giving a slight nod as they started making their way back down the way they came, where the majority of the vehicles were parked up. As they walked, E noticed that Clint looked as though he wanted to say something, but seemed to be stopping himself before he could. "Something on your mind?"

"Nothing against it, just…wondering if it was truly necessary to put the kill order on them?" Clint asked, scratching the underside of his chin.

E nodded slightly, the slightest twitch of a smirk tugging at one corner. "Perhaps it is a little on the extreme side; given their age and such. But.. considering what the plans are for those we capture alive, killing them to put a permanent stop to them would prove to be the.. kinder, of the two options."

Judging by the way E's words were finely woven with delicate malice, Clint could only imagine what he meant by his words. His only response was a slight nod, showing the fact he was paying attention. A few more exchanges went between the pair of them, before they found themselves amid the temporary parking lot. They were interrupted, however, when they were approached by one of the soldiers.

"Sir!" The soldier panted, quickly raising his hand to a salute. "Comms for you. From Command."

E raised an eyebrow slightly, side glancing at Clint before he turned back to the soldier. "Right then. Best not leave them waiting," He stated, quickly pulling his hands free of his pockets and followed the soldiers' lead. Clint following after them, coming to a stop when they came to the open back of one of the trucks. Several, connected monitors filled the trunk, with a single keyboard and mouse to pick between them. Currently, the centre screen was focused on a dark-skinned man in a white lab coat.

"So, what've you got for me?" E asked, standing directly in front of the monitors, Clint off to one side.

" _You asked us to keep you informed of anything that looks suspicious,"_ The scientist replied, re-adjusting the glasses so they were better resting. _"And we've had a few developments that you might be interested in."_

"Alright, let's hear 'em."

The scientist looked off slightly, the distant sound of keys tapping echoing out. _"We've had a report of a triple homicide on board a boat in the Gulf of Mexico, and we've had several reports submitted to the police of a strange.. creature, reported in several states. Though with the timeline of the reports make it impossible for it to be of human origin."_

E raised an eyebrow slightly, hands slipping back into his pockets. "And we need to hear about the Mexico deaths, why?"

" _From what some of the reports say, the creatures' first sightings were on the northern side of the Gulf; one report specifically stating how it arrived from the ocean. And the geography of where the reports are being submitted create a straight line, directly to Pax Valley."_

"It's coming here?" Clint questioned, earning a look over the shoulder from E.

"It appears so," E replied, turning back around. "How long do we have before it arrives?"

" _The last report came from a station in the south-east region of Kansas, and the first report came only four hours before. With the projected timeline, I'd say just over an hour."_

E gave a small nod, saying, "Then perhaps it would be better to prepare for its arrival."

" _There's another report, however, another creature was noted entering the city twenty minutes ago. Opposite side of the city, and I've got notes here describing it to be.. well, it says 'wolfish in nature'."_

"One of the Rangers? So soon after what happened?" E asked.

" _Doesn't seem like it. Report said it was in red armour, but that's about it,"_ the scientist explained.

"Hmm. Alright then. Thanks for the update," E said, tapping a key to end the call. The screens went blue momentarily, and E moved off with Clint. "I'm going to need you to keep me updated on anything that happens here," He said to Clint, approaching the still-standing Silver Ranger armour, Clint hanging back as he turned, the front panels opening up to allow him to get in.

"And what of the victims of the Rangers? A few of them had families," Clint asked as the panels closed up around E, securing him in the suit. The eye pieces reignited into a faint red glow when the helmet was locked back into place.

" _Give those who have families the compensation fee; those that don't have direct relations, well.. an apology should do just fine,"_ E replied, adjusting the grip on the gauntlets around his arms. _"Can't sue something that, in all legal terms, never existed."_

Clint nodded slowly, arms folded across his chest as E made the final checks of his armour; both physical and mechanical. The low whining of the suits power source, the Crystal at the centre of the chest, beginning to power up. "Yes sir," Clint replied. E gave a small nod in response, giving off a slightly unnerving vibe, thanks to the combination of glowing wolf eyes, short muzzle extending from the mouth guard and short, sharply peeks acting as false ears.

With that, E quickly moved off, taking off as a silver blur down the street; a small shock wave rocking the vehicles and forcing Clint to take a step back to avoid falling over. He watched as E tore off, leaving a small dust trail across the disused roads. He turned slowly and walked off to see how things were panning out with the clear up.

Failing to notice a distant figure standing on top of one of the surrounding buildings, vanishing from sight through a thin shadow.

* * *

" _So.. that's what you are…"_ E commented under his breath, crouching to one knee.

He had climbed up onto one of the buildings surrounding the target area, and soon spotted the creature that had entered the city, according to the reports. It looked just as the minimal reports described, the creature was very rugged in his design, using the built in zoom feature to get a better look at the target. Watching as it paused next to a long abandoned toy store and, strangely, approached the display glass and knelt down by one of the toys.

' _Is that.. why's he mourning over a stuffed Bambi?'_ E thought to himself, leaning forward slightly to make sure he was actually seeing right. Giving a slight shake of his head, he got to his feet and muttered, _"Let's see what this wolf is like…"_ He slowly stepped back, and quickly rushed forward, throwing himself off of the edge of the building and sailed through the air.

He slammed into the ground, fist and knee taking the brunt of the impact and cracking the ground beneath him, rising to his feet slowly, hands coming to rest at his sides and clenching into loose fists.

" _Well.. you're definitely a strange specimen, aren't you?"_

Savage's eyes snapped open, forcefully torn from the tragic memory and made aware of his true surroundings, along with his senses picking up all of the scents and sights around him. And that included the bitterly metallic scent that seemed to imbed itself permanently in his nose. Breathing through his nose, in hopes to avoid the scent cutting his mouth, Savage rose to his feet slowly and once he was at his full height, he turned around. Coming face to face with the mysterious Silver Ranger, arms by his side, the glowing red eyes of the helmet looking as though it was trying to act on an intimidation level.

Not that Savage would be threatened by mere show.

" _Now... I don't know what you're from or what kind of creature are you, but I'm pretty sure you don't fully understand how the world works,"_ E said, taking a few steps forward, closer to Savage, yet he seemed to know his boundaries, for now anyway, and only moved so close. When he got no response, he continued, _"So, you let me spell it out so even you can understand. You are in the most powerful country on the entire planet, and you think you can recruit American, and British, citizens to your little Ranger cult? And bring your guerrilla warfare into conflict with the United States of America? I may not be American-born, it is my job to protect this country from threats, and that includes threats like you."_

E paused for a moment again, waiting for some kind of response, briefly wondering if he had just wasted his time trying to explain everything in English, so he tried again. _"Du verstehst nicht-"_ He began, this time in German, but was suddenly cut short when he finally got a response from the crimson-coloured Warrior.

"I care not for your Politics and your.. words," Savage replied, a low growl to the edge of his words as he took a slow step forward.

" _Oh.. you do understand English then?"_ E questioned.

"I perfectly understand your language, Human. And your words and politics, as I have said, have no meaning to me. This world has survived millennia without you in control, and the moment you try and claim power, you teeter closer to the edge of destruction," Savage responded sharply, a snarl on the edge of his tone. "It is Warriors such as Zeta's that protect you from falling into the Abyss."

" _Zeta? Who's that then?"_ E asked.

"Under Zeta's grace, I guide these humans in protecting your planet from a threat unlike anything you have ever seen before. And I have seen the threats humankind have faced before, with your own groups of.. you call them, Rangers?" Savage questioned, outright ignoring E's question.

" _Like you know fuck all about humanity,"_ E commented under his breath, clenching his fists tighter. Almost to the point of automatically activating his energy blades.

"I know of the battle of Mariner Bay against the Demon Queen, Bansheera, her attempts to rebuild her grand temple, thwarted by your Power Rangers," Savage stated, turning to glare directly at E.

In that single moment, E tensed up, the result of which was the activation of his blades, emitting a light blue glow and was paired with a faint 'mmm'. Savage tilted his head forward slightly, giving off a slight more sinister glare of his dark yellow eyes. "Touch a nerve, did I?"

" _Of all the Ranger groups that have been and gone.. you pick that one out of, what, your ass?"_ E asked, drawing his fists, blades and all, into better defense positions as he and Savage began circling one another, like vultures, circling around a creature, waiting for it to die so they could feast on its corpse.

"Everything happens for a specific reason, you took one of my Warriors from this world... I should return the favour, taking one of yours from you," Savage growled threateningly, slowly raising one of his clawed hands, noting how E's fingers clenched and unclenched, the wrist blades moving up a fraction, almost coming to a form a defensive cross across his chest.

" _That a threat, freak?"_ E asked, a deep scowl etched on his face beneath his helmet, shifting his stance wider, getting a better ground for any attack he might need to sudden throw.

Savage rose his hand completely over his shoulder, flexing his grip around the open handle of his blade. He went to draw it partially, but stopped mid-pull and scented the air. His eyes widened slightly, before narrowing again into a narrow scowl. For a brief moment, E thought he was trying to think of a better tactic than going in wildly swinging his sword. _'Can't be smart enough to think like that,'_ E counter-thought.

But that thought was, again, countered when his short-range radar picked something up, approaching from behind, deciding which one of these creatures would be best to turn his back on. Figuring he would be screwed no matter what, he tried to avoid risking it entirely and only partially turned, so he could look at both the Wolf Creature, and glanced to the other side, his eyes landing on the creature that had set his alarm off.

" _Target identified,"_ The cybernetic/feline hybrid said aloud, coming to a brief stop, barely a couple of hundred yards away from the pair. His cybernetic readings singling out the one target, blanking the other. Several scans swept over the silver-clad figure, all converging on the centre of the figure's body, highlighting the extraordinary power source, hidden beneath the armour plating.

" _Friend of yours?"_ E questioned, briefly glancing back at Savage. Only to get shoved aside as Savage pushed past him, slowly closing the gap between himself and the cyborg.

"I would advise you stay out of this.. personal matter, Imposter," Savage snarled, throwing a dirty glare over his shoulder at the Silver Ranger. "Leave, before you are the receiver of my wrath." Not waiting for a response to his latest threat, Savage turned forward again, and narrowed his gaze again when he saw the figure approaching again, together, the gap closed twice as fast.

Savage continued approaching in silence, before breaking it to say, "Do you remember me?"

No reply came.

"Do you remember.. what you did to me? To my clan?"

The cyborg came to a stop momentarily, still in silence.

Savage's scowl quickly descended into a vicious snarl, swiftly drawing his Wolf Blade; flicking it around and grabbing it with a second hand; creating a faint wave that ruffled both his fur and leather. "You may not remember me.. but I remember what you did to me, and the other clans. For your crimes, and actions, I will gladly.. have my revenge, for what you did to my Clan. My Family. My Mate!"

* * *

"Hey! Ow! MUTT, I've fine, I'm telling you!"

" _Considering the fact that you are in the recovery stage of a bullet wound, I would highly doubt that you are 'fine', as you say it,"_ MUTT responded, finally pulling his hands back from Kyle's exposed side. The skin was an angry red, circling a partially sealed gunshot wound. A few stitches had been added in attempts to quicken the healing process. The robotic hands of MUTT eventually pulled back after a few more hits from Kyle, and moved to the holographic keyboard projected from a small podium beside Kyle's bed.

Leaning back in his temporary bed, Kyle tried taking his mind off of the uncomfortable pain in his side. Looking around, his eyes landed on Tanya. For as long as he had been awake, she had been at Isaac's side, sitting beside the Red Warrior's bed, both of her hands firmly holding one of his, partially dried blood transiting to her clothes, but she didn't seem to pay that any attention. All that filled her eyes was concern and pain, both directed from the unconscious teen she was looking at. From what he had learned, with what little MUTT had touched on while going over his own vitals, Isaac wasn't just suffering from physical injuries - his vitals, apparently, showed signs of emotional trauma, thus MUTT inducing the unconscious state.

Or something like that. Kyle was sure he was hopped up on some medical shit when MUTT had explained.

The door slid open, and he looked over to see Natalie walking into the room. "Nice of you to pay a visit now that I'm up," Kyle stated, though with a friendly smirk across his scarred face.

Natalie returned the small smirk back, though that quickly vanished as she said, "Figured the lot of us should stay close, at least for the time being.. since, well…" He could tell from Natalie's expression that she didn't want to speak of the matter, not that he could blame her.

"I get it," Kyle said softly, leaning forward to sit up straight. "It's been.. tough on all of us."

Natalie nodded slightly, inhaling sharply as she slowly sat down in one of the free chairs, bringing her head to rest in the palms of her hands.

" _Now that all of you are present, I believe now would be the best time to discuss a recent discovery,"_ MUTT eventually said, looking aside from the holographic keyboard and monitor.

"What are you talking about?" Natalie asked, both Kyle and Tanya turning to look at the cybernetic being.

" _This,"_ MUTT replied, tapping the screen and flicking it across the screen, actually moving it off of the screen and sending it to one of the ceiling projectors. _"It is one of the files that I only recently found, cataloged at the very beginning. From what I discovered with these files, it was when Savage and I first encountered one another."_

From the projection, several files floated down, displaying their contents, ranging from simple drawings to a page or two of writing. Upon closer inspection, Natalie noticed how the writing looked as though it as scratched into rocks and dirt patches. "Did Savage make these?" she asked.

" _I would put a 89% probability on that, though I don't have any records on my data-banks of teaching him,"_ MUTT replied, side stepping from the small computer, and approached the larger projection, interacting with the files, moving the ones of less importance aside and brought the ones he felt were more into focus, expanding the images and writings to give a better view. One such document was fairly short, compared to others, and a few images, zoomed in to get the finer details.

"That's one ugly fucker," Natalie commented as she zoned in one of the pictures, a crude illustration of what looked like a bobcats' head, although greatly exaggerated and.. red eyes? She leaned in slightly, screwing her eyes to try and pick out some finer details. "You reckon this is what Savage saw?"

" _It is highly likely,"_ MUTT responded, moving around to the other side of the projected images and moved the enlarged image Natalie was looking at, and brought another image into focus. _"This, however, looks as though it may be just as relative."_ Natalie looked at this new image, and blinked in surprised at the stark contrast between the two pictures.

While the previous picture had harsh stretches of what she had assumed was primitive paint, depicting the sharp strips, and harsh colours for the 'fur' and sinister eyes, this one.. was the exact opposite. Care had been put into this drawing, the lines were curved and delicate, different pressures applied to achieve different depth of colour, all coming together to form the vague shape of a wolf. And judging by the way to drawing displayed a thinner build and slimmer muzzle, it must have been female. An array of shades of brown, with a hint of white towards the middle, yet the starkest contrast was the eyes; this image displayed a shade of blue Natalie never thought could be made, if the age of these drawings were accurate. There was something scribbled underneath, though Natalie couldn't make out what it meant.

"Who is she?" Natalie asked.

" _Who's to say it's a female?"_ MUTT questioned, glancing up from examining another document, a small block of text, translated over from the original. Apparently MUTT had enough knowledge or experience with this strange text.

"Dunno.. just, the way it's designed.. whoever did this, they put care into it," Natalie said softly.

"Since when did you have an artists' eye?" Kyle asked, groaning lowly as he pushed himself up onto his elbows. Tanya had finally rose to her feet, reluctantly leaving Isaac's side and going over to join Natalie and MUTT at the projections.

"Her cousin was studying from an art degree in North Dakota," Tanya said softly, earning the look of three heads facing her. She glanced around, meeting each pair of eyes momentarily (lasting a lot shorter on MUTT's single slit in place of eyes), before saying, "What? We had a lot of time to talk about stuff back when we were in Canada."

"And out of all of the things we talked about, that's the thing you remembered?" Natalie asked, with only a slight raise of one eyebrow.

"It's relative to the conversation, K? You expect me to talk about some shit like how me and Isaac are screwing around?" Tanya asked back, earning a few blinks of surprise from Kyle. Going unnoticed, Tanya continued, "Yeah, I'm pretty sure there's no point in trying to avoid that now."

" _Enough,"_ MUTT stated firmly, looking between Natalie and Tanya briefly. _"Now is not the time for these arguments. Right now, Savage needs us, he's been there for you when you needed him, be it training or for words, and it is time that you return the favour. If these are somehow connected to current events, then Savage is suffering, from what, I cannot pinpoint. But I am sure he will need your help."_

Tanya and Natalie glanced back at each other after MUTT's words, before both slowly gave nods. "Alright then," Tanya said, straightening up. "Where's Savage then?"

MUTT looked aside briefly, as if going through the calculations and process through his head, before looking back at the pair of females. _"Locations have been sent to your Howlers. I would advise you two go, as Kyle still needs time to recover and Isaac is currently out of action,"_ MUTT informed, as low growls of acknowledgment to MUTT's information.

"Hey, I.. I can still fight," Kyle called, gritting his teeth as he tried to get off of the bed, only to groan loudly in pain as MUTT came over to force him back on the bed. His muscles tensed, fists clenched tightly; clearly not effected by the latest batch of _Instinct_ pumping into his side.

"Kyle, listen to the hunk of metal. No offence," Natalie said, quickly looking back at MUTT, to which he gave a single nod. "Well.. c'mon then," Natalie said to Tanya, gesturing for the Gamma Warrior to follow her as they left the medical bay. Leaving MUTT and Kyle with the projected images, the former of which continued to examine and dissect for further information.

* * *

"I will gladly.. have my revenge, for what you did to my Clan. My Family. My Mate!"

Savage's words echoed as he gripped his blade through both handles, holding it across his body and ready to deliver the first strike. But he held back, waiting for the cyborg to have the chance to give its own response. A plea of mercy, perhaps; a declaration of his crimes. But no. Nothing came from the creature, just a silent, emotionless stare from the blank organic eye, the robotic side giving nothing either. He remained where he was for the moment, but that changed when he moved forward again, closing the gap.

" _You are not my target, move aside,"_ The cyborg ordered, quickly closing the gap between Savage and himself. E still hung behind, blades glowing from his forearms, yet wasn't taking any actions right now, instead, observing.

" _You guys getting all this?"_ E asked, seemingly to himself. But the slight static in his helmet proved otherwise.

Savage blinked slowly at the cyborg, and narrowed his glare at his order, a low snarl tearing from his throat once again. His fists clenched around the blade's handles, the markings glowing an angry red under and between his armor, as he adjusted his stance slightly. In an instant, he was gone, tearing across the road, creating a shock-wave that caused E to stumble back at the sheer force. A barely visible wave blasted out into the air, as a red streak tore towards the cyborg. In the split second before he would reach the cyborg, Savage had raised the blade above his head and went to bring it down across the metal chest.

And that was when a third hand latched onto the edge of the blade.

Savage's eyes widened again when the cyborg grabbed onto the weapon, traveling at such a speed should have been impossible for him to do. Savage felt the force of the cyborg's pull, throwing him off his target and causing him to lose his footing. In an instant, Savage had slowed down considerably, to the point of visibility, tripping and falling, rolling across the ground with so much momentum, he only came to a stop when he collided with the side of a building. Having enough force behind his speed to crack the concrete and shatter the window above the point of impact. The Wolf Blade clattering behind him, coming to rest before him in a small cloud of dust.

With the nuisance taken care of, at least for now, the cyborg turned back to face E, bearing down on the Silver Ranger, as he shifted into a defensive stance once again.

" _Where'd your fucked up ass come from then?"_ E questioned, rolling his arms around each other, taking a few different stances as the towering creature neared. He had expected the same treatment as wolfy there, just silence and his approaching form. And as it turned out…

" _I come from Earth."_

His assumption was incorrect.

" _I'm learning a lot of things today, a lot of creatures can talk, that shouldn't talk,"_ E responded, rolling his head side to side gently as the creature bared down on him, taking small steps back to try and keep a safe distance between them. _"So, what are you after then?"_

" _The energy source within your chassis, I have been sent to extract it."_

" _Tough, because the humans are in possession of the Crystal, and we're not giving it to you,"_ E argued, striking his blades against one another, and charged at the cyborg with a shout.

" _I did not say that you had to be alive by the end of the extraction,"_ The cyborg responded, not moving from E's attacks until the very last second; side stepping to avoid the first downward strike, and raised its forearm to block the second attack.

E had expected for the blade to easily cut through the metal forearm, there was nothing on this planet that they had discovered that they couldn't cut through. They had been very thorough, at E's request.. or rather demand. So one could imagine his surprise when he felt his blades jerk to a stop, barely making a dent in the alloy that formed the forearm. He quickly looked from the forearm to the glowing eye of the cyborg, and was met with, instead, an organic, furry fist thrusted into him. But there was no soft side to this punch, it was all muscle.

Which was further proven when the force of the punch threw him back, arms flailing around in a vain attempts to slow himself down, only stopping when his back slammed into the first building that got in his way. He landed on the ground, blades cutting small grooves, as he groaned in pain, trying to shift, though found the pain spiking with every move. A small alarm came up on his HUD, a small diagram of a skull with the collarbone flashing. _"Damn he packs a punch,"_ E grunted to himself, quickly activating the homing beacon in his suit, glancing up to find the cyborg closing in on him, he pressed the beacon activator more times than he should have, as he rose to his feet while using the wall as back support. The next time he looked up from examining the injured area, he was met with the end of what appeared to be some sort of blaster barrel. Though upon closer examining, it seemed to be a replacement for the cyborg's metal hand.

" _Make peace with your Gods,"_ The cyborg ordered, the low whining of an unknown energy source echoing down the barrel, the faintest red glow coming into view.

" _I'm not one to believe in such crap,"_ E grunted, trying to get a better stance under him, one blade had retracted into the slot, while the other slowly moved aside, ready to attempt a stabbing, if the creatures' power got too high for his liking…

Before he had the chance, though, a crimson-coated blade swung around the cyborg's neck, and was forced back, the sudden pull pushing the barrel up, a shot firing off. E ducked slightly as rubble pattered against the armor, and glanced up to find a clean shot through the wall, revealing the building's interior; he had hoped his armor would withstand the hit better.

The cyborg tried countering the sudden pull back, but couldn't counter the sudden throw back; the force of the blade against his upper torso taking him off his feet and sending him thrown across the ground. E watched the cyborg thrown back, and saw the thrower to be Savage, recovering from the initial attack from the cyborg. The wolf and humans' gaze met for a brief moment, and Savage tore a warning growl when E tried moving.

"I would advise you don't move, Imposter. Otherwise I will make you suffer more than he could," Savage snarled, pointing the end of the blade at the Silver Ranger. Not waiting for a response, Savage turned back and quickly approached the now rising cyborg, firmly spinning the blade around, so the upper portion of the blade was firmly placed on his shoulder. His eyes ablaze with fury and anger, with a low growl coming from the very bottom of his throat as the cyborg rose back to its full height. "I have waited 10,000 years for this.. and you are not going to get away, Salvac."

The cyborg turned to look at Savage when he named him, and the cybernetic eye seemed to zoom in on the wolf, as if assessing him - analyzing him. The cyborgs stance shifted slightly, organic and mechanical hands clenching into fists. _"My Master has tasked me with acquiring the energy source. I will not be kept from my mission."_

"To Hell with your mission," Savage snarled, darting forward and bringing his blade across Salvac's armored torso. Though sparks showered from the contact, no marks were left; not even a scratch. But as the blade moved aside, Savage brought his free hand back and brought a fist against the metal. The markings glowing anew, traversing down to the fist. A shock-wave, much smaller than the last, rippled from the connection, the faintest hint of red at the very edge as Salvac was thrown back. His body smashed back into the same building he had thrown Savage against, only he smashed right through the wall and landed somewhere in the building.

E had managed to push himself off the wall just as the second shock-wave blasted out, and as he checked on the ETA of the backup, commented, _"What the hell is that then?"_

Savage had remained in the kneeling position, fist stilled extended, and the faint glow of his red markings extended all the way up and down his arm. Slowly, he rose to his feet, blade slowly dragging against the ground as the glow faded to a softer tone.

" _Yeah, Savage. Care to let us know about that?"_

Both Savage and E turned to look up, as Tanya and Natalie, clad in their Yellow Gamma and White Omega armor respectively, landed in the square from the side. The two looked around, first from the hole in the wall, then shifting into a more defensive stance when they saw the Silver Ranger.

"This is MY fight!" Savage snarled, pointing at the two Warriors with a low snarl, gesturing for them to get back as he approached the hole in the wall.

" _Hey, I want answers, fleabag!"_ Tanya snapped, marching up to Savage and forcefully turning him around, the two barely inches apart as they glared at one another. _"We're going to help you, but I want some fucking answers as to what the hell is going on!"_

"Deal with the Silver Warrior!" Savage snarled back, pushing Tanya back and gesturing to the still recovering Ranger. "Salvac…!" He shouted again, though that quickly faltered into a low growl. "Salvac is mine." Glaring between the two Warriors, Savage quickly turned and rushed into the building through the newly formed hole, bricks and rubble still falling loose.

Tanya was still breathing heavily from the loud exchange, her fists clenched into tight fists. _"Who the fuck is Salvac?!"_ She shouted.

* * *

Salvac shook his head slightly, his glowing red eye providing a light to somewhat illuminate the surrounding area. Rubble and dust covered his back from the impact, leading him to get his hands under him and try to get to his feet. He would have been about to.. had he not received a kick to his head, forcing him back in the rumble again. His readings glitched out momentarily, though restored quickly to pick up the circling figure of the Wolf, the faintest sparks catching alight with the point of the blade dragging across the ground.

"That one.. was for Osion," Savage snarled, coming to a stop and watched as Salvac finally got to his feet, dust falling from his flawless metal frame and chunks of rubble further breaking down by his feet. Salvac focused in on Savage this time, and the two began circling around one another; not caring for the rubble they knocked with their feet, echoing around the now abandoned building. "You have committed crimes against the Packs of Pax Valley, you attacked us in a time of peace and mourning. The Western Lunar Clan, the Clan of the Broken Mountains, the Northern Light Clan and the Greys, mourning the loss of those who they grew up with, who they cared for!" Savage growled, coming to a stop and, in a brief spike of anger, flicked the blade tip from the ground and struck a marble column he had stopped beside, leaving a clean cut right through the hardened material.

"Those were my brothers! My sisters! _MY_ family!" Savage shouted, emphasizing each point with a side punch at the previously struck column. And with each strike, more and more chunks of marble was smashed free, a nest of rubble soon forming at Savage's feet. "But that's not something you'd understand, is it? There's _nothing_ like that with that brain of yours, all wires and cables! No emotion! Nothing!"

The last punch sent a large chunk flying from the great crack that had formed, and launched right at Salvac. But it just bounced off his chest, just leaving a fine layer of dust on the metal. Savage was left breathing deeply, the armour rising and falling slightly as he drew in air, eyes narrowed, and with a wild flare to his burning gaze.

Salvac returned Savage's glare with a cold, calculating look of his own. _"Your world is primitive, your culture.. the calculations do not add up. It is not possible for your culture to have acquired this energy source, tell me how you came into contact with this advanced technology."_

Giving a look of disbelief under the mask, Savage scoffed, "That's all it is for you, isn't it? This power you seek, it's not yours to take. It is theirs, by right! Their bloodlines _are_ the crystals! Now shut up.. so I can kill you at long last." Flicking his blade up onto his shoulder, and shifted to bring the blade-shoulder forward.

Salvac adjusted his stance, but pressed, _"Explain."_

"Shut up," Savage snarled, before charging forward, with the faintest trace of red streaks blurring from the trim of his cloth. Sliding onto his knees to avoid a swinging punch, the blade striking the underside of the arm; sparks showered down, both onto and behind Savage as he slide under. Yet no noticeable damage was done, and Savage quickly spun onto his feet and jumped at the cyborg. Blade raised over his head, he brought it down in the joint gap between the shoulder and the torso, thinking it would work, and only attacked with more blood-lust when he managed to stab in.

"That was for Rotan!" Savage shouted as Salvac let out a mechanical yowl, reaching back around and grabbed Savage. Throwing him off and into another wall, the blade still lodged in his shoulder blade. When Savage came to rest on the floor, recovering, Salvac reached back and tore the blade from his armour, sparks jumping between the two plates of armour, the blade toss aside.

" _You waste energy and time, you stand between me and my mission,"_ Salvac said, marching forward, moving towards the exit he had created.

But Savage had other plans, closing the gap between them quickly, and side tackled Salvac's larger form. Their combined momentum and weight throwing them against another wall; sending cracks creeping up, smashing windows. The glass rained down on the pair, as Savage raised his head, a cut across his cheek and behind his ear, both soaking the fur around them with blood, yet his teeth were bared and he grabbed Salvac's head. Without hesitation, he began slamming the feline head against the wall; the bricks shaking and cracks ran deeper, Salvac tried raising his hands to throw Savage off, but each forceful slam kept his hands from grabbing hold of the Wolf.

And with each slam on the wall, Savage snarled out a name.

"Korta!" _SLAM._

"Tre-Li!" _SLAM._

"Skylar!" _SLAM!_

"Eli-a!" _SLAM!_

"Yei!" _SLAM!_

"WARU!" _SLAM!_

"ALVAR!"

The last slam against the wall ended with a sickening crack, and Savage threw the now bloodied Salvac to the ground. Not giving him a moment to recover, Savage quickly moved, straddling across the metal chassis. Salvac, his organics bloodied and scarred, looked up to Savage and tried grabbing his throat. But Savage grabbed and locked the organic arm in a hold, bending it straight. With a snarl and a sudden jerk, Salvac shouted out. Throwing the now broken arm to the side, Savage grabbed Salvac's throat and threw punch after punch, further bloodying and tearing apart the organics.

"Xander!" _PUNCH._

"Fri-Lu!" _PUNCH._

"Yei!" _PUNCH. CRACK_

"NAKU!" _PUNCH. CRUNCH_

" _SAGE!"_

Another, sickening crack echoed from the now broken portion of skull, yet the organic eye gave away nothing, no emotion, no pain.. that crossed the line with Savage. Grabbing a fistful of fur on the head, Savage tilted the head and snarled, "You will feel the pain you caused me! You will FEEL the PAIN!" He threw another punch, further adding cracks under the fur. Slamming the cyborgs head against the ground, Savage got up and looked around, finding his blade. He quickly grabbed it and returned, raising it above the cyborg's head.

"I honour you with the kill, Val," Savage uttered under his breath, fingers flexing around the single handle and raised it up, ready to deliver the killing blow.

" _You have fire."_

Savage paused momentarily, lingering on bringing the blade down. This gave the bloodied Salvac a chance to speak.

" _This fire is not natural, anger is natural in species, but this is something more. Beyond anger.. beyond avenging the ones I killed. You fire.. it is grief."_

His fingers flexed around the grip slowly, the blade coming down to rest on his armoured shoulder lightly. "You know nothing about me!" Savage spat viciously.

" _Species are.. easy to read. You care too much. You claim this Val as your mate, yet yo-"_

He never got to finish, Savage drove the blade through the organic skull. The body jerked and shook, the robotic eye flashing before, all at once, the movements stopped and the eye went blank. And with Savage pulling the blade free, the body lay limp.

Thoroughly soaked in the creatures' blood, the fur around his fists permanently embedded with the colour, rose to his feet, still breathing heavily as he began walking away from the body. "I honour you, Val…" He said to himself, and repeated to himself under his breath multiple times after as he left the building. Exiting through the very hole he had created when he had thrown Salvac through.

The unmoving body remained motionless, before a small green light slowly emitted from beneath the chest armour. A few seconds passed before it began to fade, as if it was draining back into the body…

* * *

Savage stepped into the sunlight, his crimson armour partially illuminated…only to slink back into the shadows when a bullet pinged off the wall beside his head. Dust rained down on him, and he made sure to keep his head low as he moved out. A quick scan gave him the locations of both Tanya and Natalie, both taking covered behind another section of the building, windows smashed in and bullet holes embedded in the wall.

Manoeuvring around the buildings' rubble, only stopping to avoid getting shoot, he eventually came to a stop with his back slamming against the cover Tanya had taken. Natalie sat behind her own cover across from them, peaking over from time to time to assess the situation.

" _So you finally graced us with your return,"_ Tanya grunted, sarcasm slicing through her words, as she quickly moved her head against the cover, a bullet tearing through where her head had been moments later. Bringing her head back up, she asked, _"So, dealt with that asshole?"_

"Salvac has been dealt with," Savage responded, glancing around the cover to a look at what they were dealing with. Only a brief glimpse was allowed before he pulled his head back, several bullets flying past and embedding themselves in the bricks behind them. "What's the situation here? I told you to keep an eye on the imposter Warrior."

" _We were, asshole!"_ Tanya shouted back, _"Then these fuckers turned up, and we're not going to try and fight them after what happened to Matt."_

" _Silver guy must have put out some kind of call out, no way they would have been able to get here that fast,"_ Natalie called out over the gunfire. More and more chunks of cover were worn off, falling apart and giving the three less and less cover. _"Any plans on how we're gonna deal with them?"_

"What's stopping you two from teleporting away?" Savage questioned.

" _MUTT said he doesn't want to risk teleporting back to the Den, since they can make bullets that can shred through this, he doesn't want to risk it if they've somehow got something that can trace us back,"_ Tanya said, but quickly added, _"Or something along those lines, I don't know, wasn't paying attention entirely."_

" _That is exactly the reason,"_ Natalie replied dryly. She made to continue speaking, but she suddenly cut herself short. This gathered looks from the other pair, before they too felt it.

Unexpected vibrations through the ground.

" _You guys feel that?"_ Natalie asked, earning two nods of conformation.

"Shit! The buildings coming down!" One of the soldiers' voice rang out, and their overlapping footsteps, combined with the sudden drop in bullets shot, gave them an opportunity to get out of there. And they quickly did, a streak of crimson, flanked by a streak of yellow and white, all mixed with shades of black, tore away from the building and found themselves tearing up the wall of another building down the street. When they came to a stop, the situation had degraded further, the building was beginning to crumble into nothing, a large column of smoke and dust rising from where it had been.

But that was not what caught their immediate attention.

" _Anyone else see that? Something's in that dust,"_ Natalie commented, gesturing to the column. Sure enough, a shape was visible, vaguely hidden, yet moving, as if rising from the rubble. Savage slowly moved towards the edge of the building, his hands slowly clenching into fists.

"No.. don't you dare.. don't you dare…" Savage snarled lowly, his ears fully perked, with his fists started to shake from how tightly he was clenching them.

" _What - or who - is that?"_ Tanya asked, the shadow started to take shape, the murky outline of a humanoid. What could be arms, stretching out, as a low, sinister snarl echoed through the air, vibrating the very ground and the building the three were stood on.

"You take everything from me... I take your life, yet you come back.. you're going to suffer, Salvac," Savage snarled, his hackles bristled in anger as he drew his blade harshly, looking dead at the now revealed form of Salvac, towering over the buildings' rubble, the smoke cleared. All blood gone from what little fur was exposed, the pair of organic, and cybernetic, eyes scanned the area, as if hunting for his own target.

" _Savage, wait!"_ Natalie shouted, quickly moving and pushed Savage back onto the roof, just as he went to leap off. _"There's a difference between having balls and going on a suicide mission, and right now, what you're trying to do is a damn death sentence! You can't fight that thing like this!"_

" _If I could interrupt,"_ MUTT's voice suddenly came over Natalie's Howler, earning the wearer's attention. _"I believe I have something that could prove useful."_

" _What have you got for us, MUTT?"_ Natalie asked, grabbing a fistful of Savage's armour and, with a great deal of effort, pulled him from jumping off the edge.

" _I hope you recall the Rogue Zords you encountered, resurrected with the Rogue Wolves?"_ MUTT questions, keys distantly tapping through the comms. _"I finished reprogramming them a few weeks ago, and I imagine now would be a good time for the first real world scenario."_

Natalie glanced to Savage, before saying, _"Good idea, MUTT. Send 'em in."_

With that, the comms were cut off, and the three were left on the rooftop, watching as the looming, metal/organic fusion tearing the remains of the building from its feet, and began knocking down other buildings surrounding it, freeing itself, scanning the surroundings. Natalie looked to Savage, as if wanting to ask him a question, but he gave off this.. vibe. The vibe of someone who wouldn't think twice to acting on instinct; be it to strike out at anyone, or to grow tunnel vision.

Thankfully, the air of awkwardness was cut short when the distant sound of howling echoed across the city, drawing the attention of those on the roof and the looming giant standing before them. The thundering boom of high-speed running followed; three sets overlapping one another as they drew closer. Finally, they came into view, three large Wolf Zords, the centre, primarily black, Zord the largest of the three; flanked by the other two, smaller Zords.

The Rogues.

" _Guess we're going to have to give you this one,"_ Tanya asked, coming up to stand on Savage's other side, earning the briefest side glare from the Wolf. She quickly tried to nonchalantly look around, avoiding his glare long enough for him to give up and move, next thing she saw, he was a blur of red, streaking through the air and disappearing into the Black Wolf Zord.

" _Savage will work this out.. he's got some serious problems he needs working on,"_ Tanya commented as she and Natalie moved besides one another, watching as the three Zords slowly closed in on Salvac.

Natalie glanced to Tanya, dryly adding, _"I think you're underestimating him, just a.. just a little bit."_

* * *

He briskly walked around the cockpit of the Zord, strangely a cooler temperature than the outside, the metal of the console and walls, briefly running the tips of his claws against the otherwise smooth surface. He finally came to a stop when he reached the head of the cockpit, standing before the control point. Savage looked around slowly, drawing his blade from his back, flicking it around so it was facing downward.

Rising the blade up, Savage let out a low snarl and stabbed downward, slotting the blade into the control port, the faintest growl echoing down the cockpit, seemingly through the Zord itself, as a slowly fading glow of red began bleeding along the meeting point of blade and console. The glow highlighted the underside of Savage's mask and muzzle, giving a semi-sinister aura to Savage and his surroundings. "Rogues.. you are mine to command, now. You obey me… Do a make myself clear?"

It took a few seconds, as if the Zord dare debate Savage's demand, before another low growl echoed down the cockpit.

"Good.. glad you've come to reason. Now…" Savage gripped the exposed grip, and brought the other hand across his chest. "I'm going to ensure this one hurts, Salvac... Zords, combine."

Salvac had turned to face the three Zords as they arrived, and had shifted into a defensive stance as the three combined into a Megazord, the larger Black Wolf's forelegs folded into its chest, forming a chest plate, as it moved up to stand on its hind legs, which folded in on themselves to create sturdy, boot-like feet. The pair of smaller Zords mirrored their modifications, legs folding into their bodies, the lower backs and flanks came away from the main body, creating shoulder armour as they connected to the larger Zord.

The heads shook loose, the muzzle splitting and formed a pair of fists, as the tails broke off and flew around the Megazord, coming to a stop either side of the now exposed head. Splitting through the middle, half of the tails folded back, creating a slick, ears-folded-back look. The lower half folded around the face of the head, acting as a mouth guard, the eyes lighting up a dark blue. Not a second later, the Megazord formation had been completed, taking a fighting stance opposite Salvac, the movements copied from Savage's stance in the now illuminated cockpit.

" _You are mine, Salvac,"_ Savage said, his voice projected out of the Megazord, echoing around the mostly empty city. His fist connected with an open palm, the Megazord echoing his movements, the metal slamming against one another, fingers unfolding against one another and began moving apart slowly. Between the palms, a large blade started to take form, grabbing it by the grips when they had formed. Swinging it around a few times, like Savage was getting used to handling the blade for the first time; bringing the blade up to point at the cyborg giant, the head tilted forward, allowing a menacing glare to transpire between them. _"And this time… I'm going to make sure you stay dead."_

Salvac returned the glare, and didn't waste any time in moving; quickly closing the gap between the pair and threw a punch at the Megazord, but the punch was dodged, and he received a slice across the torso. He stumbled back a few steps, crushing cars and smaller buildings beneath him. But, just like before, only sparks flew from the strike, leaving no visible remains of a cut. Looking up, Salvac clenched his fists again and advanced, throwing calculated punches.

The Megazord crossed its arms over its chest to block the attacks, moving them accordingly to counter the punches; though that didn't mean that all of the attacks were blocked. Some connected, denting the metal and sending the Megazord back a few steps, on the more forceful strikes. The cockpit shook and rattled with every landing blow, sparks showing down up Savage. Yet he remained in the defensive crossed arms position, his legs shifting to a stance to allow better support against the blows. A snarl tore through his fangs as he pulled the Megazord back, dodging one wide swing, and returned one of the strikes; aiming for the exposed organic half of the head.

But when the fist slammed into the side of Salvac's head, a shockwave rippled out, taking shape around Salvac's entire body, echoing from the point of impact. Savage's eyes followed the ripples across the body, and turned sharply to look at Salvac's face, only to be greeted with a closed fist, right to the head of the Megazord, the force of which sent the Megazord flying backwards.

" _He's got some kind of shield!"_ Tanya said as Savage's Megazord hit the ground, the mere force of which shook the building she and Natalie were situated on, watching the fight. They moved to the edge, trying to get a look at the fallen Megazord.

The sudden impact and resulting vibrations through the ground caught the attention of others in the area. The D-13 soldiers had just loaded the still armoured up E into an armoured 4x4, and turned around quickly to look at the source. A silver hand reached and grabbed the edge of the doorframe, and E pulled himself up, the helmet panels had folded up to reveal his face, a thin trickle of blood coming from the corner of his lips, accompanied by a few small bruises across his neck and face. "So they got a new Megazord then? Fan-fucking-tastic," E grunted, before one of the medics already in the 4x4 eased E back into the vehicle, another pair of armed soldiers climbed in after and the door was slammed shut. Tires squealing, the 4x4 took off, as the other soldiers piled into the other pair of 4x4s and tore after the leading truck.

The convoy moved away from the scene of the Titan fight, as the Megazord rose back to its feet, pausing briefly on one knee, Savage trying to think as he brought it back to its full height. Normal strikes, including punches, were clearly not going to work, even as Salvac walked towards the Megazord, the faint ripples echoed through the shields. Savage growled lowly, fists clenching as he brought his fists up, the Megazord copying, and rushed to meet the monster head on.

Just because it didn't work once, didn't mean it wasn't going to work again.

" _What's that idiot doing?"_ Tanya shouted as the Rogue Megazord tried delivering more punches to Salvac, but like before, the shields deflected the attacks and cancelled out the damage. With the attacks against him ineffective, Salvac was able to return the attacks easily, only his attacks delivered significant damage, denting metal plates and forcing the Megazord several steps back. _"Doesn't it register with him that punching is gonna do jack-shit!"_

" _Well, what do you expect him to do? Pull some Deus Ex out of his ass?"_ Natalie asked.

" _He's got that fucking glowing arm of his! That's done several things, some of which I don't think even make sense! If anything, that's a Deus Ex!"_ Tanya replied, gesturing to the Megazord as she faced Natalie.

" _Fine then! Savage!"_ Natalie shouted, raising her voice to as loud as she could bring it, directing solely at the now kneeling Megazord. _"Use that weird glowing arm of yours! What else have you got to lose?"_

Though kneeling beneath another shower of sparks and the echoing snarl of pain from the Zords themselves, Savage's ears twitched slightly at the distant voice, sounding like a soft echo. He raised his head slowly, the words registered in his head and his eyes fell to the one arm, hidden beneath the layer of armour and fur, Savage could see the markings, engraved in his mind from seeing them so many times. Then his mind shifted back to the fight on the ground, none of the other attacks worked.. save for the punch with the Marks alight…

It clicked.

Savage rose to his full height, and with both fists, slammed a double punch right into Salvac's chest, just as the monster tried pulling back for another punch. The force of the hit sent Salvac stumbling back, crushing buildings and forced onto one knee, giving Savage enough room to work. And despite the hectic fight, with sparks still exploding around and the echoing growl, Savage straightened his posture, brought his hands to his stomach, one cupping the other, and closed his eyes.

In an instant, everything was silent.

Savage was no longer in the middle of battle, fighting a giant creature clad in metal, with Savage himself in a small Pack of Wolves. Now, he was in an endless, black void, yet the sensation of dirt was very much presence between his clawed toes.

Soon, though, he was not alone.

" _Your bloodline has been blessed.. as your brother has been given Oktrix's Gift, you too will be gifted... Tell me, young Savage, do you know.. of the God's Mark?"_

Savage exhaled through his nose slowly. "The Gods' Mark.. a powerful gift, harnessing a mere fraction of Our Saviour, Zeta's abilities, Elder Tredznor."

" _An ant.. in the entire territory.. would be a far more accurate ratio, but seem to get the idea… Now, are you ready to receive your Mark?"_

"Yes… Elder Tredznor."

" _The process will.. not be painless."_ The voice swirled around him, a male voice, far younger than the previous voice.

Savage's eyes slowly opened, the faint glow that was the yellow iris of his eyes providing some light to the endless darkness.

A new voice came into focus, this one female, and close to Savage's heart.

" _Life is filled with pains, some minor, some great.. some that feel as though your heart has been torn from your chest. But Life is_ about _proving you are better, that you are stronger... that you will, not only survive…"_

"But you will return the favour.. tenfold," Savage finished, his eyes lighting ablaze as he was taken from the empty void of his consciousness, and back into the heat of battle, barely any time had passed on the outside, yet it had seemed much longer in his meditating state. A quick glance around helped him reassess the situation, Salvac had recovered and was readying himself for another attack. Yet, unlike earlier, where he had let his anger and rage blind him, he focused it. Cumulating in the blazing red glow of his tattoos, glowing through the gaps in his armour pieces. His hand clenched into a fist, raised up to Savage's line of sight, as he quietly uttered, "By Zeta's rite, I honour you, Ral-Yi.. I honour you, Mother."

In that moment, Savage turned to see Salvac moving in for another attack. But Savage was ready, fully facing the oncoming attack, the arm still glowing, as he tried focusing further, projecting more than just his movements onto the Megazord. It took a few angles of focus, and Savage growled lowly, but soon, his efforts seemed to work.

Across the entire left arm of the Megazord, which also just so happened to be the Crimson-coloured Wolf Zord, a faint glow of red became apparent, highlighting the crimson panels, essentially splitting the Zord up into two glowing parts, with the only parts not highlighted being the black joints and their covering panels. As Salvac's fist came flying in, Savage quickly brought the glowing fist up to intercept.

Only this time, the result was far different.

Salvac's bellow echoed across the city, pulling his hand back and tried cradling the now stump of a hand, the articulating parts that made up the fingers shattered, sprinkled across the city like confetti. The shield retracted from around the body, coming back to the central projection point on his back. He looked back to the Megazord, who had now redrawn the large Wolf Blade, leading with the glowing Crimson Arm.

"How?!" Salvac demanded, throwing his stump to his side, more shards of metal and internal fluids sent flying to the ground.

"You may have powers that I cannot, and may never, fathom, but I have one gift you will _never_ come close to wielding," Savage stated, flicking his blade out from the controls, it too now glowing a faint red from transitioning through his glowing fist. "Now.. it is _you_ that cannot fathom the Power of a God!" The blade was slowly raised, drawn to Savage's, and the Megazord's, side, much like a traditional sword.

Salvac snarled, not gathering information by this stage, and rushed at the Megazord, he still had one hand useable, and he was going to make as best use of it as possible. Savage remained still, waiting.. waiting for the right moment.

There it was!

Savage brought the blade down and across, slicing clean through Salvac's torso from shoulder to hip. Sparks of red arced between the now two halves of the cyborg, as the glowing red eye flickered before eventually fading out entirely. The upper half of the torso slowly slid off, falling off entirely, with the glowing hot, mechanical internals became exposed. As both halves fell to the ground, small explosions began rocking the entire being, reducing the large chunks into much, much smaller shrapnel. Savage exhaled slowly, the red glow slowly fading from both his arm and the Megazord's, digging the blade's tip into the ground. Blade back in the console, Savage took a small step back, leaning against the back of the cockpit.

"Finally."

* * *

"Alright, you better start talking, 'cause I'm pretty sure the others are with me when I say, you've been keeping us in the dark about certain things for way too long," Tanya accused. She, along with Savage and Natalie, had only just returned to the Den after Salvac's defeat. Savage had lingered a bit, sending the Rogue Zords back into the place of rest before returning, finding himself met with three Warriors, waiting and demanding answers from him. They'd even gone to the trouble of getting Kyle out of his bed to help confront the Wolf and, though it was clear he was favouring one side, he didn't appear to be in _that_ much pain. Not _that_ much.

Savage had spared a glance from one teen to the other, and the other, before turning partially to look at MUTT, tapping away at the keyboard, from what Savage could see, he seemed to be finishing up the analysis of the bullet fragments. Savage looked back, and he inhaled slowly when he saw the human teens still had that same glare between them, straight at him. _"You need to tell them, Savage. They have a right to know,"_ MUTT commented, tapping one final key and turning his full attention to the four organic beings. When Savage seemed to be keeping from talking, MUTT then added, _"If you do not speak, I will share the information I have."_

"You will not speak a word, MUTT," Savage quickly countered, sparring a brief glare at the robot before returning to the teenagers. He exhaled slowly, fists clenching briefly, before he said, "Very well.. take a seat, and I will tell you what you want to know."

While it was clear that they weren't entirely happy with the initial response, Tanya gestured for the others to head over to a load of improvised seats, namely deactivated computers and mostly emptied desks. Tanya herself took both; sitting on the end of one desk, kicking her feet up onto the side of a computer. "Alright then. Firstly, what the hell is that shit on your arm? What kind of Deus Ex is that?"

Savage took his own seat, leaning against the barrier surrounding MUTT's command post, and crossed his armoured arms over. MUTT moved over to be part of the conversation, looking at Savage; ready to press him for answers, should he linger too long. His fingers flexing around the other bicep, Savage exhaled and began to speak. "These markings…" He began, unfolding said arm and turned it slightly. The faintest traces of fur between the leather plates, yet no sign of the markings that lay beneath. "They are part of a ritual, a gift from Zeta, indirectly, of course. It was around the time of the previous Warriors. Their abilities... I'm not sure even the elders of my clan know the exact extent to their true powers." The arm fell to his side, brushing against the leather waist cloak.

"But you've seen some of their abilities - healing, to an extent, allow entry to the Spirit Realm.. enhanced strength. The main side effect, as you could probably tell, was the markings make themselves known. Sort of a.. last warning, to rivals. The Gods' Mark was known, and feared, among the Four Clans."

"Four Clans?" Natalie asked, leaning forward slightly. "Something you were part of?"

"The resident Packs that resided in Pax Valley, myself and Isaac's ancestor came from the Western Lunar Clan, at the heart of it all. Tanya and Kyle's Warrior ancestors both hail from the same clan, the Clan of the Broken Mountains."

"Broken Mountains? What kind of name is that?" Tanya asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"The Demon War changed the surface world significantly," Savage commented, looking aside, eyes starting to lose focus on the teens, as he allowed himself to be brought back to the days of old. "Mountains that seemed to reach the clouds… Elder Dree," He paused briefly, a brief smile tugging at his muzzle, "We called him the Mad Wolf of the Mountains… Yei and Naku, they were proud Warriors…and good friends."

"What about me? And… And Matt?" Natalie asked, her voice soft.

Savage shook his head slightly, pulling himself back into the present. "Your Warrior ancestors came from the other two Clans; you, Natalie, have a bloodline of the Northern Light Clan. They were the more.. spiritually tuned rather than Warriors, but a few Warriors do prove themselves. As for.. Matt's bloodline, well, he stems from a Clan we called the Greys. Though we didn't have.. that much interaction with that Clan - Retu was an outcast - a skilled, albeit tame in comparison, Warrior of the Greys."

"Next question," Savage asked, looking between the three.

Natalie, Tanya and Kyle glanced between one another, before Natalie looked across at MUTT and gave a slight nod. As if some sort of unspoken request, MUTT returned the nod and turned to one computer.

"What kind of thing was that Savage? That creature you fought? Because that sure as hell wasn't something from the Demons," Natalie asked, the tapping of keys fading into the background, before a hologram separated the two groups. She noted how there were several images highlighted, including the harsh drawing of the red-eyed creature.

Savage seemed to take notice too, his reasonably relaxed posture tightened into a far tenser one, pushing him off of the desk. Slowly, as if instincts forcing him to be weary despite it being a mere hologram, Savage drew closer and only came a stop when his muzzle threatened to break through the projected image of the tormentor of his nightmares.

"He... It, is Salvac," Savage stated, a slight twitch of his muzzle, trying to suppress a low growl from rumbling out. He slowly stalked around the hologram, eyes never leaving as he continued. "A Demon, he may not be, but he has…" He lingered momentarily, earning a look from MUTT to prompt him onward, "Has.. haunted my mind for over 10,000 years."

"He came from the stars, not long after Horror's initial defeat.. we thought nothing of it, but it proved costly…" He paused again, and Tanya noticed how his fists had clenched up, and started to shake slightly. "He killed everyone.. all those who suffered through the War, and he slaughtered them.. all of them. Including my mate…"

"Mate?" Natalie asked quietly.

Tanya glanced to MUTT and gestured for something, before the holograms changed, replacing the harsh, violent drawing to the caring strokes painting of the she-wolf. "Take it this is her?" she asked, gesturing for Savage to turn around.

Savage did so, and immediately, he froze, MUTT's reading picking up on the slightly raised heart rate and partially heavier breath. The Wolf drew closer to the hologram once again, the flickering image of the stunning blue eyes the stand out for him. But not just that, everything about the painting brought back memories, both loving and of agony, came flooding back, much the same way that stuffed deer had triggered them.

"Yes," Savage said eventually, one hand raised and tried to caress the hologram; his fingers merely passing through, creating small flickers in the projection. "Val, of the Broken Mountains Call.. a highly skilled Huntress, yet there was a.. gentler side to her, rarely others saw. Sh… She was the first I found, killed by Salvac." He shook his head slightly, dulled claws rubbing against one another as he moved around to another table, closer to the other three. "I thought… I thought after 10,000 years, I would think Val w.. would've forgiven me, but.. but honour and.. and anger, I needed to do this… I needed to claim honour back."

There was a brief moment of silence, the three teens looking to the now silent Savage. Not wanting to let this silence linger, Natalie pushed off the desk and moved over to sit beside Savage, with a moment lingering in pause, before her hand came up to gently rest on the broad shoulder of the Wolf and gave it a light squeeze. "Hey… Don't beat yourself up so much. We all know what you're going through, we've all lost people close to us. Some recently," Her eyes glanced to the others, lingering on Tanya briefly, "And some a little white ago. Point is, you're not the only one who's been going through this. And, speaking personally here, I know that.. anger you feel, when you lost someone. But you need to understand, unless you're the one holding the knife, or gun, or.. or bloodied rolling pin, or providing the weapon, then it's not your fault. You've got nothing to blame yourself for."

Savage glanced aside at Natalie as she spoke, extending the looks around to the others, both Tanya and Kyle nodded, giving reassuring smiles to the Warrior. He brought his eyes back to Natalie, and gave the White Omega a small twitch of a smile.

" _I hate interrupting moments such as this,"_ MUTT sliced through the silence, removing a cable connecting him and the computer. _"But I have finished the analysis of the bullet fragments, and I think you should see the results."_

Savage turned to look at the robot, and after Natalie had moved away, he rose to his feet and approached MUTT, joined by the humans as MUTT came to meet them. Tapping a small button on his forearm, projected images, stemming from his eye screen, came into view. Several images depicted bullet fragments, revolving around a central image of a completed bullets. Another was a list of things, Savage himself wasn't sure he could pronounce, and the teens weren't even sure existed. "Going to explain what we're looking at here, MUTT?" Savage asked, arms folding over his chest.

" _These bullets have been modified, but on such a minute scale, it was actually possible to break through the armour of your suits, on the atomic level. I did not think it was possible for them to create something, especially this soon,"_ MUTT explained, bringing the fragment holograms into the main frame. Zooming in, and next to a control image of a regular bullet's structure, there was a noticeable, albeit extremely thin, layer surrounding the body of the fragments.

Clearly, the teens didn't like this news one bit. "Is there anything that you can do to, you know, keep us alive?" Kyle asked.

" _Now that I know the cause, I can work on an upgrade to the suits that will provide added protected. But it will take time to do. And if we have anything to go by from previous events, time is something that isn't on our side."_

 **Epilogue**

"How are you holding up, sir?" Rylee asked as she opened the door to the private medical room. She had barely got a glance at E as the truck arrived at the base, screeching to a halt as medical staff rushed E, still in his Silver Ranger suit, off to sort out some unknown injures. Rylee, herself only recently recovering from injuries after the Hospital incident, had been assigning briefing some higher ups on the latest mission from Pax Valley when E had come in.

When she had entered the room, she had expected to find at least one or two doctors still working on E, figured he was in some pretty bad way. She _had_ expected that, but that wasn't what she was met with. The bed was empty, the sheets looking freshly pressed and folded, with all the equipment set up to monitor heartrates and vitals. Yet they weren't in use, not this time. "Sir?" she asked, giving the entire room a quick look around, finally finding that E was, in fact, in the room.

He was sat on one of the chairs, one arm firmly held in place by a sling, facing a large television, now she was aware of the subtle noises from the quiet volume. His free hand made slow exchanges between resting on his chin inquisitively, and reaching for a small controller, flicking between different images and recordings. He only became aware of Rylee in the room when he caught movement in his peripheral vision.

"Was wondering what happened to you," E commented, pausing the latest scene he was on and slowly pulled himself to his feet, a faint twitch of pain dancing across his pain as his muscles and bones shifted against one another, but he quickly suppressed it.

"I was.. recovering from the Hospital incident a little while back," Rylee replied, eyes glancing down to the sling. "Broken arm?"

"Fractured collarbone," E corrected, adjusting the fabric slightly. "Lucky shot from our recently deceased friend. I take it the extraction units have made it to the sites? We need that metal. Couldn't even cut through the metal with the blades, and Fairweather said those blades could cut through anything on Earth."

"Well.. perhaps I could assign some scientists to go through records, see if anything like this has appeared on Earth before. From off world, that is," Rylee suggested, moving aside to let E out of the medical room, accompanying him as they made their way through the facility.

"I already had a couple of guys on it, they went through all our records, and nothing like this has been recorded before. We're dealing with something.. new," E replied, coming to a stop when they passed one corridor in particular; this one seemed to be more heavily guarded than the average area of the D-13 HQ. Only the test lab was as heavily guarded as this corridor.

"Why is there added security in the Cell Wing? I thought we were saving those for the Rangers," E questioned, abandoning the direction he had been heading in, and pushed through the security doors. Rylee quickly moved in to catch up with him, several security guards coming up to meet them.

"We acquired a couple of prisoners, that we figured would needed an.. added security measure," Rylee explained, as both she and E handing over D-13 ID codes to the security guards, before they were handing back after verified. Accompanied by two guards, E and Rylee were given access through the secure doors, several layers of steel and intricate locking mechanisms. The doors opened slowly, revealing the many layers and different locks, before they entered.

The room had been empty, but now, several guards surrounding the edge of the room, armed with high powered rifles and, currently, aiming at cell blocks at the centre of the room. The cells themselves looked as though they were made of glass, with metal framing and a single metal wall behind them, connecting to a thin room where guards could gain access to the cells without direct endangering themselves or allowing a chance for the prisoners to escape. But judging by the two prisoners currently in two illuminated cells, only one looked about ready to try and escape.

"Well, well.. what do we have here?" E questioned, as he approached one of the closer cells. The glass was scarred with many layers of slices and marks, as were the other walls and even the roof had been viciously attacked. Inside, circling the perimeter of the cell, much like a caged animal, a two-legged, slim-built she-wolf prowled. A constant growl came from that cell, and that only increased to a snarl when E spoke; another strike to the glass, yet it didn't break. E moved in front of the scarred cell, and instinctively stepped back when the Wolf slammed against the glass, eyes glowing a vicious blue and what fur wasn't covered in armour was a dark, almost an ash grey, in colour, which was a slight contrast to the somewhat rough and aged brown armour.

"Vile, wretched humans! Cowards! You will die at my hands!" Licos shouted, fists slamming against the glass and tried shouldering through the glass. But nothing came of it, just more scratches and an even angrier she-Wolf.

E moved on, and came to a stop at the next cell, and his glare hardened at the creature inside this cell. "Didn't expect to see you again, Demon."

Fear glanced over his shoulder at the words, the Demon's back had been to the clear viewing glass, arms folded behind his back. He turned slowly, coming face-to-face with the human, a small sneer playing across his face at the injury, and drew closer to the glass. Getting as close as possible, yet neither pressed against the glass. "Have we met before, human?" Fear questioned, head tilted slightly as he examined E. His bulky armour sliding against the glass, creating small grooves in the otherwise flawless glass. "No," he eventually said, rising to his full height, "No, we haven't. I would have killed a human so.. petty, so weak."

Rolling his eyes slightly, E stepped back to speak with Rylee, Fear following him with his eyes, a cold, calculating look that seemed to stare right through him. "Where did you find these two?" E asked her, side glancing to ensure they had relative private to speak.

"A few of our teams have had reports a few states over for each of them. Figured you'd want to bring them in here and see if we can get any answers out of them," Rylee responded.

E glanced over his good shoulder slightly, before a small smirk danced across his lips. "Well then.. let's get some answers, shall we?"


	19. Episode 18 - Back in Blue, Part 1

Episode 18 – Back in Blue, Part 1

The first thing he could feel was pain - a great, throbbing pain from just behind his eyes, like his skull suddenly grown a size too small for his brain. He groaned lowly, pretty sure he felt his hand rub tiredly against his face, or something, he couldn't pick anything out just by touch. He tried opening his eyes, but found two problems; the surprising weight his eyelids suddenly carried, and the sheer brightness that he picked up on before he even attempted to open them.

" _He's up."_

The voice echoed around his head, almost in sync with the throbbing of his brain, sounding distant, yet he was sure it was much, much closer. And it seemed so familiar… So, so familiar.. he just couldn't place it right now.

A distant echo of something shuffling, and a blurred shape partially blocked the bright light.

" _Isaac?"_

At his name, it finally clicked.

"Tanya…?" Isaac groaned, eyes trying to open, but all he managed was a brief peak and his eyes screwing shut not a second after. He raised a hand to better block the light, though when he tried picking himself up from what he assumed was lying down, he could barely pick himself up. He probably could have, if another hand didn't gently take his forearm and ease him down again, now aware of the mild pain flooding from his shoulder.

"Easy there…" The voice soothed, now much closer and clearer, as she shifted around Isaac's resting form and gently ran the back of her fingers down the side of his neck; in hopes of distracting him for any pain. "You went through shit, so you're going to be a bit tender."

Despite another groan of pain escaping, a small shudder ran across Isaac's skin, centering on the faint trail of fingers down his neck. "Tender, eh?" He muttered, a small smile tugging the corner of his scarred lips, eyes still closed. "Can definitely see that. Just surprised you haven't tried taking advantage of that." Even without actually looking, he could tell, with the small scoff of disbelief that Tanya was smiling at his words.

' _At least he hasn't lost his sense of humor,'_ She thought, before reminded of the current situation they were presented with, but this wasn't the time right now. He had just woken up, and he needed to keep from falling into a darker path. "Come on now... I would never do something like that," She said, a tone lower than normal, as her hand slowly slid up his neck and curled a finger through his shorter hair. She leaned in closer, her breath barely grazing his skin.

"At least when you're unconscious; conscious, though.. that's a different matter entirely," She all but whispered, pressing a short, but sweet, kiss to Isaac's forehead. Her hand trailing over and down Isaac's head and hair, lightly massaging his throbbing scalp. And judging by the way Isaac's smirk spread across his face, it was working great. And she probably would have progressed further, if she hadn't picked up some very distinctive footsteps approaching, accompanied by the light patter of claws…

She pulled herself back into her seat as the door slid open, Savage and MUTT entering, the former of which was back in the more comfortable trench coat and loose trousers. MUTT moved in on Isaac's other side, where all the wires and readings Isaac was giving off were, and tapped a few buttons. "I would assume you want to know the current situation?" Savage asked, arms folded behind his back as MUTT, with Tanya's help, eased Isaac up into a sitting position, groans and grit teeth accompanying every bit of movement.

"I'd appreciate it," Isaac grunted, finally managing to get one eye open while the other remained firmly squeezed shut. "How long was I out?"

" _Approximately three days,"_ MUTT answered, removing the bandages around his shoulder - Isaac only now realizing that he wasn't wearing anything over his entire torso - and began examining how well the bullet wound had healed up. And judging by how the skin was patched together, it must have been pretty ugly. _"You needed time to recover, both physically and mentally."_

"Matt.. where's Matt?" Isaac suddenly asked, eyes suddenly widening when that lingering thought abruptly came front and center. He tried getting up from the bed and tore a few of the cables taking his readings, but MUTT reacted quickly and kept him on the bed. Though the force, however gentle, sent another, fresh wave of pain rattling through him.

" _Matt is dead,"_ MUTT said bluntly, earning alarmed looks from both Savage and Tanya, and a frozen look from Isaac. _"He has been dead for around 60 hours, and has been buried just beyond the Den."_

"There's better ways to tell him that MUTT!" Tanya exclaimed, moving forward and shoving MUTT back, glaring at the robot. "You could have softened it a little."

" _Softening wouldn't do him any favours in the long term; if anything, it would cause much more damage,"_ MUTT countered, easily moving Tanya back as he returned to assessing the process of Isaac's healing.

Isaac, meanwhile, still had that blank expression on his face. Like he didn't even know what to feel right now - pain, sorrow, shock - all of it was coming at once, yet nothing was coming through entirely. All that came through was the occasion blink and slightly raised breathing rate, the occasional clench of his fists. Whether it was from MUTT's cold, blunt fingers pressing against his skin or the emotional storm going on behind the eyes, no one could tell. "W... Where are the other two?" he finally asked, rising his gaze to look at Tanya, then to Savage. "Kyle? And Nat?"

The teen and Wolf exchanged a look with one another, before Tanya silently prompted Savage to finally speak. With a sigh, Savage unfolded his arms from his chest and folded them at the base of his back, taking a step closer. "After Matt's.. untimely end, I had MUTT begin the search for another end of Retu's bloodline. It took some time, but another branch was narrowed down and a suitable host was located."

"Seriously? Stop calling him 'host.' He's a fucking human being, for God's sake," Tanya snapped.

"Kyle and Natalie," Savage continued, sparing a brief glare at Tanya, "Have been sent to.. collect the replacement for the Beta position of the Pack. Thankfully, the location wasn't too far from Pax Valley. One of the human.. what are they called?"

"Humanitarian Camps, temporary housing for the unlucky fuckers who happen to live in this shit city," Tanya replied, shifting her reply from Savage to Isaac as it progressed. "Should have figured that, really, being someone of Pax Valley origin. It's just going to be a pain in the ass to get him up to speed with everything that's going on."

"Indeed it will," Savage agreed, turning back from looking to Tanya when it became apparent that Isaac had yet to say anything on the matter. "Isaac?"

The teens head raised slightly when he was addressed, with a small "Hmm?" He looked between the two, before he inhaled slowly and finally asked, "W... Who's the un.. unlucky guy?" But Tanya could tell something wasn't right. His tone lacked that special.. energy he usually carried that made him, him. She closed her eyes slightly, giving a small shake of her head. He _really_ wasn't right.

"We'll worry about that when Nat and Kyle bring him back. Right now, you're in no condition to be worrying about that," Tanya put in, finally managing to push MUTT back with a glare. "Seriously, you've literally just woken up from a) being shot, and b) going through serious shit."

"We shall leave you be," Savage offered as MUTT finished the assessment, with a brief nod spared to Tanya, the two left the teenagers to themselves. Tanya waited until the door had fully closed behind the pair before she sat down beside Isaac's bed. MUTT had managed to get him to lie down on the bed, but Isaac had sat up not long after the Wolf and Robot had left. And he still had that expression that Tanya found near-impossible to read, something Tanya had to fix.

"Hey…" She started, moving across to sit on the bed's edge, gently taking Isaac's hand in her own and ran her thumb across the back of his. "You need to stop thinking that this is in anyway your fault. We were all fucked as soon as we found out those bullets could get through this armor. You and Kyle got lucky, that's all, it could have been…" She slowly trailed off, realizing how bad this could go and stopped before it could get any worse. "Really wish Nat was here, she'd know what to say. She gave a pretty good speech to Savage earlier, which I really need to catch you up with. Seriously, he's been holding out on us."

She paused again, waiting for _something_ to happen, anything across Isaac's face. But nothing changed. His eyes seemed unfocused, not looking at anything in particular. Tanya went to try and raise his hand, but found the moment she let go, it instinctively moved down to rest on his lap. It pained her to see this, but she knew that this wasn't something that you could recover just like that. She knew that personally…

A shake of her head soon pushed those darker thoughts to the back of her mind, now wasn't the time for those. "Need anything?" She asked softly, rising to her feet and glancing back at Isaac. Though she had a sliver of hope he'd give her a response, she fully expected the result she got - utter silence. Her eyes closed and she slowly shook her head, leaving Isaac in the medical room.

* * *

"You took your time," Batibat sneered as Death entered the Throne Room via a portal, the very same way he had left a few days prior. The she-Demon had been busy at work during her fellow Hands' absence, keeping eyes present throughout the Human world, ready to update her and her Master on anything significant. Since the death of the Blue Beta Warrior, the Master had been rather.. keen, for lack of a better word, on anything going on in the Human Realm.

Ignoring the snide comment, the cloaked figure that was Death brushed past Batibat, the she-Demon taking note of something clutched behind his back, tightly held and mostly hidden from view. Curious, she followed, the pair coming to a stop before the raised throne of their hooded, concealed Master. While she remained standing, Death dropped to one knee and brought his free hand across his thigh. "Master," He began, bringing the other hand forward and held the item in open palms. "The strange creature from beyond the Stars has been.. destroyed."

Here, Batibat got a good look on the item of secrecy. Some kind of metal, that much was clear. But the key thing to notice was the fact that it looked so.. polished, aside from the jagged edges going around it, the metal looked brand new. Not even the floating particles seemed to land on it, if anything - and she had to focus to really notice - they seemed to _avoid_ landing on this strange metal. She gave a quick shake of her head, bringing her head from the examination. And in that time, she noted how the metal rose from Death's hand, rotating, every angle explored as it floated towards Horror's open palm.

Coming to a rest in his flat, skeletal hand, Horror's hood turned down and to the side, examining the metal fragment, moving it from his hand, floating in the air in front of his concealed face, the burning red glow under the hood moving across the metal's surface. _**"It is not of this planet.. but it could prove useful. Store it, for later use,"**_ He instructed, flicking the metal away, landing in Batibat's now open palms.

"There is.. something else, Master," Death continued, his gaze returning to the ground as Batibat was about to move off, hanging around momentarily, wondering what Death had else to say.

"He was defeated by…" He paused, as if collecting the right words. "By an Ancient Warrior."

A silence, filled with dread this time around, overtook the Throne Room. Batibat adjusted the hold on her metal after she almost dropped it in a spike of shock, yet her face kept her emotions well hidden, not a muscle twitched out of place. Death kept his head down, his eyes falling close as he prepared to endure the wrath of the Master.

" _ **You are wrong."**_

Both Hands turned to look up at the Master's words, and this time, Batibat couldn't help but the faintest trace of surprise dance across her face, Death's stature shifted slightly, moving with the rise of his head. "Master?" He questioned, slowly rising to his feet, and was slowly joined by Batibat.

Horror rose to his feet slowly, robes going slack against what body lay beneath as his arms folded behind his back. _**"The Warriors are dead, I killed them myself. Whoever this.. false prodigy is, they must be the one training this new generation. He will need to be eliminated, that much of clear."**_

"Please Master, allow me that honor, to prove my uttermost loyalty," Death insisted, bowing forward a little as he spoke. Yet as he pulled himself back up, he spared a glare when Batibat scoffed.

"You? You could barely face the Warriors themselves during your last encounter with them; at least _I_ have proven to be effective against them," Batibat countered.

" _ **Neither of you will be given the task."**_

The squabbling stopped immediately and both Demons turned up to their Master as he descended the last step from his throne, and passed through the gap that quickly formed between the pair. As Horror passed them, the sudden chill ran up both their spines and if fresh blood ran through their veins it would have surely gone cold.

" _ **I will deal with this faux Warrior, but only when the time is right. Right now, there is another, more pressing matter that requires my attention,"**_ The Master ordered, looking over his shoulder as he spoke. _**"It would be very wise for you to adhere to my orders."**_ Pausing enough to allow his threat to linger, he moved off silently, disappearing through the entrance and into an out of sight cavern. Only then, did the pair of Demon Hands allow themselves to relax, albeit ever so slightly.

"Don't you _dare_ put me down like that again," Death spat at Batibat as she turned to leave for the second time. "You may be his more trusted Hand, but that doesn't make you untouchable."

Batibat, once again, paused and turned around, but this time, a mocking sneer dominated her features. She didn't even make any attempts to hide it, she _wanted_ Death to easily pick it up. "Don't you try and think yourself superior, Death, you may have a grasp of iron around the Humans' culture, but here, you are nothing. You cannot kill Demons, no matter how much you desire it," She stated, giving a small flick of her hair as she turned back again. And on her third attempt, she finally managed to leave the Throne Room, leaving Death by himself.

"We shall see," Death whispered harshly, the ominous green glow radiating in place of his narrowed eyes.

* * *

"Hurry up, will you!"

"Jesus, you try - *huff* - dragging a body! Fuck, did this guy like McDonalds,"

Kyle huffed and heaved as he dragged a guard through the flaps of a large tent, the black armour padding standing out against the dark green of the tent as it vanished inside in small, effort-filled sections. Fully inside, Kyle grabbed the Kevlar armour and, with a bit of effort, slumped the guard against the main support, right beside the other guards, head slumped down.

He walked across the tent, joining the other figure in their search, pulling his mouth balaclava down around his neck, and tore open the nearest filing cabinet. Flicking through a few papers, he asked, "Anything yet?"

"Nothing yet," Natalie replied shortly, wearing similar attire to Kyle, though her half-ski mask was black, she wore a dark brown jacket over a black hoodie. Finger-less gloves flicked through dividers and files, before she quickly snapped up one specific sheet of paper. "Bingo! Prescot, located in Section Echo. C'mon!"

Quickly, hoods were pulled up and balaclavas were pulled over mouths and noses, and the pair quickly exited the tent and headed down one path; heads down, trying to keep from drawing attention.

And judging by how many of the younger people in the camp were dressed and handing the situation, they looked as though they'd be fine.

"This way," Natalie whispered, but ended up roughly dragging Kyle behind a tent when she spotted a pair of police officers patrolling along the same path they had just been taking. The two quickly began walking again, backs to the officers and they weren't given a second glance as they passed the crossed paths. Kyle smoothed out his jacket as they walked through the main centre of the camp, multiple people were hanging around. Some by themselves, some in small groups, with small 'gangs' of kids, ranging from younger to teenagers. And it definitely wasn't cold enough for that to be their breath…

"And all these are people who used to live in Pax?" Kyle questioned lowly, pulling his hoodie closer around his head as they passed by one such group of people.

"Apparently so," Natalie muttered, glancing around when she was sure they weren't being looked at, though returned her eyes front and centre when she felt even a single pair of eyes on her. Thankfully, they didn't draw as much attention as they thought they would, a lot of the 'hard' teens dressed like they were. Though that didn't mean they were out of the woods yet. "Let's just find this guy and get out quickly. Whether it'll go as smoothly as that is another question entirely,"

"Hope for the best, prepare for the worst. Words to live by," Kyle commented dryly, shaking his head slightly as they passed through several tents, some flaps sealed close, others opened to reveal the inhabitants. Once they might have had their own grand houses, living the life of luxury. Kyle almost felt pity for them, reducing to having to live like this, like something you would see documentaries on after a natural disaster.

' _We really fucked things up for everyone,'_ He thought, seeing everything first hand, everything that had been _their_ fault, was a very sobering experience. He shook his head, attempting to banish those thoughts to back of his mind, just as Natalie gestured for them to go down yet another turn, straight down the middle of a row of tents. They walked a short distance down before they stopped once again.

"This is it," Natalie said, her voice significantly lower as she glanced along the row they had stopped at, one way proved empty, while the other saw the end of a pair of civilians just disappearing from view. She went to move into the tent, but was stopped when Kyle snagged her by her jacket.

As she recovered from choking, Kyle held a finger to his covered lips, before gesturing for her to look around. Cocking an eyebrow, she decided to amuse him and carefully leaned around the corner. And she quickly pulled herself back as the flaps were pushed open, through which, an older, dark-skinned man exited. Drawing his old jacket closer around him, he walked off in the opposite direction of the spying pair. Natalie turned to glance at Kyle, and found him listening, head tilted to the side, opposite to the tent, before giving a nod of conformation.

"We're good."

Natalie nodded and, not wasting another second, quickly moved in and threw the flaps open, entering with Kyle. By the time the flaps slumped close, both had already assessed the situation and surroundings.

"Back a bit early, Da-"

The person behind the voice turned around, and immediately fell silent when he saw the two hoodies standing in his tent. His eyes twitched between the two, as his hand carefully moved behind him, grabbing one of the tools he had been using when they entered.

The shorter of the two, the one with the brown jacket, gestured for the other to hang back as they stepped forward, throwing her hood back and brought her balaclava down, revealing Natalie. Though instead of relaxing, Tyler did exactly what Natalie thought he would. He tensed up further, and she heard the faint heart rate increase upon her reveal.

"Tyler?" She asked lowly, hands outstretched at her sides, showing she was unarmed, though she knew that wasn't going to be anywhere near enough proof. "You remember me? N-"

"Yeah, I fixed your phone," Tyler said shortly, and she heard the nervous drumming of his fingers around the monkey wrench. Each tool had their own specific scent, and this one was pretty oily in smell. "Though I'm guessing you're not here for another screen."

"Tyler, please just listen-" Natalie tried saying, but she found herself cut off again.

"Why the fuck should I listen to you? You're the _fucking_ Power Rangers! You're the entire reason why we're in this situation!" Tyler shouted, pulling his makeshift weapon out from behind his back and waving it accusingly at both of the teens before him. He gestured to Kyle, and asked, "Which one's this then? The Brit? Kyle? _Fucking Matt?"_

"Matt's dead!" Natalie snapped, but quickly calmed herself and tried again. "Matt's dead, OK? He died a couple of days ago. And that's the entire reason why we're here."

At this revelation, Natalie could see the subtle changes that happened all at once, Tyler's angered glare dropped for a second, changing to one of shock, only to be replaced with a quick face of annoyance, and had to quickly adjust his hold on the wrench before he dropped it. "That asshole was going to get himself killed sooner or later, figured he'd be smart enough to stay out of trouble. But what the hell does this have to do with me?"

"Look, I can explain everything to you, _everything,_ but you need to come with us, right now," Natalie pressed, taking a small step closer. But she stopped when Tyler turned the wrench at her, holding it up defensively.

"I'll be damned if I'm going with you," Tyler warned.

"I still say we should knock him out," Kyle threw in, arms folded casually.

"Kyle!" Natalie snapped sternly, hand raised in warning. "Not helping, OK?"

Kyle merely shrugged off the snap, though stepped back and glanced through the tent flaps.

"Look," Natalie began again, turning back around to look at Tyler. "I can completely understand why you would hate us. I mean, we _are_ entirely responsible you're in this wannabe Shanty Town. But trust us; if we allow what's to come to happen, then we're all fucked. As long as we have a _chance,_ no matter how small, of stopping this and preventing it all from happening, then I, for one, am going to take it."

She was getting somewhere, she was sure of it. Tyler had that look of uncertainty that she had seen many time before. Just that little bit more…

The tents flaps suddenly opened, and another voice started booming in the tent.

"I've g-Who the fuck are you two? Get the fuck outta here!" The older man shouted, glaring at the pair of intruders. That was before the girl turned around, and his eyes widened when he recognized her. He took a small step back, trying to fumble around for something to defend himself.

"Uh.. listen," Natalie tried, hands raised to prove she was unarmed. But she never got to finish, as Tyler's dad made to move.

Whether it was towards them or out of the tent, they never found out. Since Kyle moved much, much faster. His body hit the ground before Tyler had a chance to fully blink, and when he caught up, he saw his father's unconscious body at Kyle's feet.

"What. The. _Fuck_?!"

"Fuck it, we're out of time. C'mon," Kyle insisted, quickly approaching Tyler. He easily stepped the wild swing of the monkey wrench, and as he tried to bring another swing across Kyle's face, the Black Delta teen quickly grabbed the wrench and twisted it free. Moving with such speed, Tyler wasn't aware the wrench wasn't in his hand until it thumped the ground across the tent. He turned back to look at Kyle, glancing across at Natalie, who had her arms folded and shook her head slightly, before being jerked from the spot and, with Kyle grabbing him by the shoulder, was escorted out of the tent.

Natalie went to follow, only pausing to glance down at the still unconscious body of Tyler's father, briefly focusing her hearing, she was glad she could hear the steady beat of his heart and the subtle rise and fall of his chest. With a small shake of her head, she moved around the body and vanished through the tent flaps.

Thankfully, it didn't take long to catch up to the half reluctant pair, one of Tyler's arms pinned and folded behind his back, and Kyle standing close to block their arms from sight. Allowing the illusion that they were just walking close to keep up a few seconds longer. Whenever they heard even the slightest hint to an approaching group, or even an individual, Kyle and Natalie made a quick turn, forcing Tyler with them.

The exit to the camp was in sight.. the plan had been simple - get Tyler, get out and get back to the Den. Now they had Tyler, they just had to get out, un-

"Hey! Freeze!"

"Shit!" Kyle shouted, looking over his shoulder and quickly broke into a run, dragging Tyler along with him.

Natalie threw a look back and quickly ran after the pair. Behind them, several police officers were running after them. All armed with rifles, but something stuck out about the way they.. _smelled._ She had been met with such a metallic scent, the wave of weaker metal scent almost went past her. But she was glad she caught it, it gave them what they wanted.

"They're using old bullets!" She said as she caught up with Tyler and Kyle, the latter of which trying to slow them down as much as possible. But judging by how many times he was stumbling along, it wasn't proving to be that effective.

"Really?" Kyle asked, before he broke into a slight grin as realization dawned across his face. "Finally! Here, take him!" He finished by, effectively, throwing Tyler across to Natalie as he slid to a stop and turned around.

Easily catching the utterly bewildered Tyler, Natalie turned to look just as Kyle raised his hand and activated his Howler. Tyler turned just in time to be blinded by a column of light encasing Tyler, and by the time it faded and his eyes had readjusted, all he saw was a flash of black. The streak tore down the path they had just been down - he was surprised they had covered such a far distance - and started making quick work of the officers.

"Does he really have to do that?!" Tyler exclaimed, gesturing to the number of bodies that were starting to fall at Kyle's armoured feet.

Natalie too looked at the bodies, but a quick listen and isolation of sounds, she said, "Relax. He's not killing him. Now," She turned back to him, and grabbed his wrist, "I'm not going to lie, this is gonna hurt like fuck."

"Hey! What are y.. Fuck!" Tyler exclaimed, cutting off when Natalie forced something onto his wrist, and in that instant, a stabbing pain dug into his wrist, and he yanked his hand free. He moved away from Natalie, and examined the source of pain on his wrist. A slim design, dark blue and silver in colour, in the shape of a wolf head, and the stand out feature was the glowing blue eye in the centre of it all. He turned it over, just as his wrist was encased by the lock of the Howler. "What the fuck kind of thing is this? Digging into my fucking bone or something?" He exclaimed, trying desperately to wrench the Howler.

" _It's making sure you're the right one,"_ Natalie said, and Tyler was suddenly aware of Natalie being replaced with a set of white and black-accented Ranger armour, and when she turned back to face her, he took an involuntary step back now he was faced with the menacing look this White Ranger suit provided. The glare that the eyes on top of the helmet, the jagged edges to the visor that looked like the jaws of the beast, and the black gash-like designs on either side of the torso looked like the wearer had been in the fight, and came out the victor. _"Now, just stay here. Don't try running, you won't get far,"_ Natalie warned, pointing a finger accusingly at Tyler before rushing off to help Kyle.

And the very moment she turned into a blur, Tyler quickly looked around and took off, in the opposite direction of the fight going on.

" _On for fucks sake,"_ Natalie sighed, as she grabbed the throat of one officer as she came running in, and was swiftly slammed to the ground. _"I told him to stay there, and what does he do? He fucks off."_

" _Well, wouldn't you if you were him?"_ Kyle asked, twisting around to look at Natalie, but easily delivered a swift punch to his side when an officer thought it wise to try a sneak attack. He glanced around Natalie, and gestured for her to look while he said, _"Actually, I think we might be good... MUTT must've got a lock on him…"_

Cocking an eyebrow beneath her helmet, Natalie looked around and saw the back-end of a beam of light encasing where she had last seen Tyler running. She let out an airy chuckle, and the two quickly took off, leaving a circle of bodies, making various groans and grunts of pain, in their wake. And in the distance, the faintest streaks of black and white leaving the sights of the Camp.

" _This is gonna be a crash course for him, isn't it?"_

" _Oh yeah, he's not going to enjoy it. I just wonder how he's going to react to MUTT. And Savage, if I'm honest."_

* * *

The last traces of the trails leaving sight, and in that brief moment, silence enveloped the raided camp. It wasn't long before a scramble of angered and panicked voices began to overlap, like a swarm of bees after their hive was disturbed. Some smaller pockets with a larger group swamping the epicentre of the commotion, some gasps, with some calls for help at the discovery of the unconscious man.

Though the majority of the still conscious officers went to the scene of the various calls and shouts, a few quickly ran to the last sighting of the Rangers. But their focus was quickly switched to helping bring their unconscious comrades back up and aware.

Various voices muttered and uttered names to try and get through, though they were quickly overshadowed by the sudden snarl of an engine approaching. Heads rose as it quickly drew closer, and a screech of tires replaced it. D-13 soldiers came flooding out of either side of the 4x4, some armed but one wasn't.

"What happened here?" She asked, applying the other bright blue medical glove as she dropped to one knee beside the closest recovering officer. The other officer trying to bring him back into recovery glanced up at the medic.

"I'll give you three guesses, though I bet you have a pretty good idea what happened," The officer replied gruffly, gently easing his grip on his colleague's shirt to let the medic assess the situation.

"I mean which ones are we dealing with? Red, Yellow?" She further prodded, carefully applying pressure to various points across the torso and sides of the neck. Whether it was assessing the injures or something else, the officer didn't know exactly.

"Black and White," Another officer piped up.

"Hmm…" The medic quietly responded, mostly to herself, as she finished her assessment and carefully maneuvered the body into a recovery position. "Nothing too serious, just going to have a nasty headache when he wakes up," She assured the officer, handing him a small canister of pills. "They seemed to go lightly on you this time."

The officer scoffed, asking, "That supposed to be a compliment or something? They kick the shit out of my guys, and for what? One fucking kid."

"What? They took someone?" The medic questioned, looking over her shoulder at one of the soldiers standing guard beside the 4x4. Not another word was said, the solider quickly nodded and moved behind the truck, vanishing from sight quickly. "Can you give us anything about them? The kidnapped kid?"

* * *

"Now, are you quiet done? So we could get-"

A piece of shrapnel that was once a chair collided with the glass; while it did spook the tense guards standing either side of him, E remained in place. The glass remained intact - barely a scratch - as the now splinters came to rest in the cell.

That wasn't the only bit of the cell that was damaged, only the latest break. The other three walls that weren't glass were no longer smooth; severely scratched and clawed, and in some cases even had entire chunks missing from them. And while the glass had been reinforced, even it wasn't indestructible; the faintest signs of scratches and claw marks became visible in the right light. And all the while, the source of all the damages, Licos paced back and forth. Her tail lashed back and forth in clear aggravation, her ears firmly pinned back and a visible snarl tore through her bared fangs. She did throw the occasional insult; not that he was positive they _were_ insults, since E didn't understand a word she was throwing at him.

After a few minutes of this cycle repeating, resulting in the destruction with the only remaining fragments of the chair, E shook his head. "We're not getting anywhere with this," He muttered under his breath, looked over his shoulder to the number of scientists working at the desks at the end of the room. "Reduce her rations," He ordered, and was about to walk off the raised platform when another voice cut through.

"I don't understand why you waste your precious oxygen trying to talk with that beast."

E turned back around, slowly making his way towards the other occupied shell. And when he passed in front of him, he got flashbacks back to Silence of the Lambs.

That stone-faced Demon was just standing there, barely inches from the glass, arms folded behind his back, looking relatively relaxed considering his situation. And by the looks of it, he hadn't even moved the basic chair and table that had been in the cell. He just.. paced, back and forth, back and forth. Only pausing when speaking or addressing, though the latter was split between someone, and no one at all.

"If I'm being honest, I am.. mildly surprised that you were able to construct something that would be able to hold their kind," He said, moving across the length of the cell so he was level with E.

"And you as well. Proves just how much.. power you claim to have," E added, a sliver of malice in his tone.

"Well, yes I suppose," Fear mused, giving a slight nod as he looked around at the nothingness of his cell. He paced back a few steps, and added, "And I suppose now, you are going to attempt to try and get information out of me? Because I'm not going to waste your already shortened lifespan, and telling you right now that you'll be just as confused and irritated as you are currently."

E gave no response, the glare only hardening as he turned away, issuing orders to his men that were far too quiet for anyone, baring the guards, to hear. The group of three returned to the analysist group and the rest of the stationary guards. And even as he moved away, E was sure that the Demon had that arrogant, yet knowing smirk across his pale features.

"Anything on their biology?" E questioned, leaning over the pair of seated scientists to take a look at the many screens sitting before them.

"For the Wolf, it's got lungs roughly 45% larger than the average humans and from the DNA extraction that resulted in Dave almost losing his arm, we've got a DNA template. And it's.. pretty impressive, if I'm totally honest," One scientist said, turning to speak with E as he brought up the relative files. "As for the Demon.. we're comparing his template to the samples that we managed to get from Bansheera, but so far they're proving to not be of much use."

E nodded slowly, giving a slight pat on the scientists shoulder. "Well, keep up the work. The more we get on them, the better."

Just as he fell silent, the door of the Cell Wing slid open and another scientist walked through, on the shorter side of the height argument, and seemed to be balding. In his hands he carried a four-cup holder, two of which had Starbucks in it, and a tablet firmly held in place under his arm, a feature that was only really noted when he was closer.

"Also, E, a report came in for you," The new man said, taking the tablet out and offering it to the head of D-13.

E glanced between the man and the tablet, before taking the device and flicked through the report. He looked back up after a few seconds, this time with a cocked eyebrow. "And what kind of kidnapping is supposed to interest me?"

"Take a look at the reported kidnappers," The man said, gesturing to scroll down.

E, though skeptical, did so and for a brief second, his eyes widened before they faded and was replaced with a small smirk at the corner of his face. "Well now.. now we can add kidnapping to their list," He said, handing the tablet back. "Keep an eye on those two, and see what else you can pick from the files," He called as he made for the door, vanishing soon after.

Small chatter and information exchanged between the now three colleagues was all that filled the rather large room. Yet despite the relative silence of the room, gears were turning and scrambling for information. However, this source wasn't sitting in front of a computer.

"Bansheera…" Fear muttered under his breath, slowly turning around to have his back to the viewing glass, and began starring intensely at the wall before him. Searching, thinking…

"What do they know?"

* * *

 _THUD!_

"Fuck!" Tyler exclaimed, already feeling the warm trickle of coppery blood trickling down his nose. Whatever had blinded him seemed to effect his ability to walk, but last he remembered, he was on rough concrete.

This felt much colder, like steel.

"Where the fuck…?" He asked himself, pushing himself up and over onto his back, propped up by his elbows. Already, the crimson blood ran over his lip and small droplets started to land on the ground. He was midway through wiping the trickle when he started to notice important features of.. wherever he was now. He rose to his feet, albeit unsteady, and as if that was a trigger, a blinding light suddenly lit up. His arms crossed his face, eyes squinting shut and given time to adjust. As they began to, Tyler's arms started to move down and vague shapes could be made out.

A desk, smooth with no apparent space beneath, with what appeared to be different screens scattered across. And upon closer inspection, Tyler noticed how they all appeared to be from different eras of tech. He went to touch the closest one, but before contact was made, a sudden voice caused him to jump, nearly out of his skin.

"I'm not gonna lie to you," A feminine voice said, Tyler turning around to see that someone was standing across the room from him. She had her arms crossed, and littered across the exposed forearms, several dark, ugly bruises of various nasty shades and scars criss-crossed one another.

"This is gonna be a lot to understand," Tanya said, and tried taking another step towards Tyler. But he took another step back, almost knocking over one of the monitors.

He went to reach back, and frantically try to keep it on the desk, but found another set of hands had already pushing the monitor back in place. He all but leapt back, seeing it was Tanya, turning around to where she had been not a second ago, only to see nothing standing where she had been.

"H.. How d'you…?" He stammered, looking between Tanya's previous and now current spot.

"MUTT'll get pissed if you break one of these," Tanya warned as she made some final adjustments. Satisfied, she turned back to Tyler and casually smirked, a stark contrast to the open-mouthed, shocked expression on his face. "Look, you've probably got no idea what's going on, but-"

"Damn straight I don't know what's fucking going on! My city gets fucked up, one of you fuckers attacked me and my dad, and you kidnap me?! What the fuck is wrong with you guys?!" Tyler asked, voice blasting from the get go, looking about ready to try and attack Tanya right there and then. Instead, he started walking in small circles, running his fingers through his shortened hair and droplets of panic sweat trickling down his skin. "What the fuck?! Seriously!"

Tanya remained where she was, arms folded across her chest as she waited for Tyler to calm down, or run out of breath. It seemed the latter happened first, as he eventually stopped speaking and began breathing deeply, hands on his knees and bent over. She carefully strolled over, leaning against the desk he had taken up. "You're gonna need to be more open to ideas, Tyler. Especially with what you're gonna be working with from now on."

He looked up at his name, and replied with, "What the fuck are you talking about?" As he rose to his full height, now finding that he and Tanya were pretty similar heights. "And who the hell is that Mutt guy you talked about? And what kind of name is that anyway?"

A door slid open with a sudden _hiss,_ causing Tyler to jump and turn around all in one motion. Unsure if it was him or not, but the lighting around the door seemed purposely dimmed. The sound of metal skimming the floor drew closer, as the figure came into the light.

" _That_ would be MUTT," Tanya introduced, a semi-smug grin plastered on her face as she watched Tyler's jaw drop and eyes go wide as MUTT walked into the light. Arms folded behind his back, MUTT came a stop just in front of the pair, bending down slightly so he was almost eye level with Tyler. All Tyler did was stare blankly back, unsure of where exactly to look, no eyes to stare into, only a sort of visor with a red slit across.

" _Odd, your records put you a few inches taller,"_ MUTT said, causing Tyler to step back and almost knock over another piece of tech, thankfully, it barely reached the edge of the desk. He looked up and down the metal form of the robot before him, and if his increased breathing and darting eyes were any indication, this was the point where Tanya had expected it to happen.

His brain was struggling to process all this.

"H... H... But, he's.. what…?" he stammered, further proving Tanya's point.

"He's a robot.. mostly... I think. Honestly, we don't even know what he is entirely. And he's not gonna tell us," Tanya explained as MUTT finally moved away, giving Tyler a little bit of breathing room, and moved to one of the monitors and keyboards.

" _And even if I wanted to, the files have been corrupted beyond repair,"_ MUTT threw in.

"I... I gotta go!" Tyler exclaimed, rushing off before Tanya could grab him. He ran towards what he hoped was the way out. Tanya went to run after him, but something caught her senses and she stopped herself.

The door Tyler had chosen slid open, but instead of breaking for freedom and forgetting all of this ever happened, he was met with a near-immovable, surprisingly furry, wall. The momentum he carried when he struck the 'wall' was great enough to send him bouncing backwards, landing squarely on his ass. "What the-?" Tyler demanded, but stopped dead when he got a look at the towering mass he had collided with. "B... Big fuc.. fucking... Wolf…" He commented quietly, scurrying back as Savage entered the Command Room.

" _The Howler is compatible with Mr Prescot,"_ MUTT reported.

"Hmm.. good. Though the training will have to be more.. steam-lined," Savage commented as he looked over the still sitting Tyler.

"It's stream-lined, Savage," Tanya corrected.

"Never mind how he fucking pronounces it? _He can fucking talk,"_ Tyler all but shouted, finally finding his feet beneath him and, after weighing his options, moved over to stand alongside Tanya. He looked at her, and said, "Why am I the only one freaking out about this?!"

"Honestly, you think we didn't when we first saw him?"

The four turned at the new voice, finding Natalie and Kyle were now present, the former of which already had her helmet under her arm, while the latter was in the process of doing the same. "Seriously, we were fucking jumping when he brought us here. Trust me, that was way better than what we had to deal with," Kyle agreed.

"Yeah, like seriously, I don't understand what he's so ungrateful about," Tanya said, moving across to speak with the newly present Warriors.

"You still think I _want_ to be here?! What the fuck is wrong with you people?" Tyler shouted, bringing the attention off of the armoured Warriors. "Have you lost your fucking minds? You're teenagers! I'm a teenager! We get in trouble, we put stupid mods on cars! What we don't do, is get involved with some kind of wannabe team of super heroes!"

"I... I need some air," Tyler finally finished with, chest heaving as he looked around. "Just... Just let me get out of here, and get some air."

Tanya exchanged looks with the others, ranging from disapproval from Savage, to a look of empathy from Natalie, to a blank look from MUTT's featureless head. She eventually turned back to Tyler, and exhaled as she said, "Door to the right, then the third on the left."

Not wasting another second, Tyler quickly moved off, cautiously moving around Savage and stopped before the door. He hesitantly took a step closer, and the door slid open. He quickly moved through, not even looking back as the door slid shut again.

"What the actually living hell? We went and got him, and you think you can just tell him where to fuck off?" Kyle asked, stepping up to Tanya a few seconds after the door slid close.

"Yes, actually," She responded bluntly, walking past the clearly agitated Kyle. "But I never said anything about sending him back to the City."

"You still sent him outside," Natalie replied shortly, a scowl quickly forming on her lips at Tanya's nonchalant way of dealing with this. "You do realize how much effort we used trying to get Tyler here? We were shot at! Granted, they didn't have any of those suit-killer bullets, but they could have!"

"I did send him outside, yeah. No doubt about that," Tanya responded, coming to a stop when she was opposite the computer MUTT was working at, leaning over partially. "He still out there?"

" _Hasn't moved for the past half hour,"_ MUTT said crisply, tapping a few keys and adjusting whatever was on screen.

"Wait.. where's Isaac?" Kyle asked.

* * *

"Third on the left.. third on the left. Bingo." Tyler quickly grabbed the old-style handle, similar to a vault handle, and gave it a quick pull. When that failed, he gave it a twist and paused when the creak echoed down the corridor. It wouldn't be the first he had looked over his shoulder to make sure he wasn't being followed; with the speeds they moved at, who knows what they could do.

With another echoing turn of the handle, he gave a quick jerk and finally, the door became free. Sunlight streamed into the dimmed corridor, but Tyler was just glad to see it. He never realized just how dark the corridor was until natural light was present. Sure, that room where everyone else was had bright lighting, but it was heavily artificial.

He shook his head, and quickly opened the door the rest of the way; he really needed to get that stuff out of his head. Perhaps it would help when _he_ was out of this place, and forget he was ever here.

Upon emerging, the sun managed to catch his eyes just enough to force him to raise his hand. While his eyes adjusted, they picked up something that he had apparently forgotten. The strange device wrapped around his wrist, pain gone entirely now, yet it was still very much on his wrist. He lowered his wrist again, taking his time to detail the exact device as he left the underground bunker, door wide open.

"How the fuck does this come off…?" He asked himself, free hand holding the other wrist as he examined the underside wrap. Looked like some kind of leather, but Tyler knew that it was more than just that. "These are fucking Power Rangers for God sake.. like they're gonna have their Morphers held onto them by freaking leather."

He tried giving it a tug, but nothing budged. He tried from a different angle, yet still nothing. As he walked, he twisted it around and got a good, detailed look at the actual face of the Morpher. He looked closer, noting how it seemed layered, like it itself was armour plated. He went to touch the prominent crystal that made up the brightly-lit eye, but an even more prominent growl vibrated through his arm, and the air, prompted him to pull his arm back, stopping dead in his tracks.

"They don't like that, you know."

Tyler twisted sharply at the new voice, looking around wearily even when he found the source. Though his back was to him, Tyler could make out another teen. Despite this, however, he could tell this teen was talking solely to him.

He told himself that he had to leave, and leave quickly. But there was something in his gut that told him to.. at least see who this guy was. Even before he came to his final decision, he found his feet had made the choice, taking slow steps towards the guy. Coming to a stop a few feet beyond the teen, Tyler got a few more details in. The hair was short and scruffy, and from the looks of it, the jacket he wore had seen better days. It looked like.. slices had been cut out of the sleeves and one of the shoulders, though the shirt he wore beneath hid them to a degree. And was that.. blood?

"The Howlers are stuck no matter what," The other teen continued, as if knowing exactly where Tyler was behind him, yet still didn't turn around. "I'd go into detail, but you probably won't like it."

Tyler didn't respond, though his hand found itself gently holding the face of the Morpher, idly scratching the flawless metal. That was when he took note of where this guy was standing; the earth was upturned and put back, resembling the rough shape of a rectangle. Slowly, a cold feeling of dread formed a pit in Tyler's stomach. "Is.., Is that…?" He questioned, though the same gut feeling told him he already knew the answer he was dreading.

"Yeah…" The other teen responded, just as hesitantly as Tyler's question. Tyler found his hand unintentionally picking at the edges of the Morpher.

"I take it you're the Red guy, in this.. what d'you call it? Pack? Team? Or do you prefer it if I call you lot a load of power-mad fuckers?"

The other teen smirked and chuckled a few times at the insult capping off the question, keeping it short yet somewhat bitter. "Pretty good guess.. what makes you think I'm Red then, eh? Don't look like much of a leader right now, do I?"

"Educated guess," Tyler replied evenly, arms coming to rest across his front.

"Those two sent to snatch me and fuck my old man up, they're in their suits. Other chick's Mor... How.. whatever the fuck they're called, hers' was yellow. I've got Blue. And considering the process of elimination, and the fact you knew what I was doing before I even knew, it kinda makes sense," Tyler responded shortly, his words calculated and chosen wisely.

The other teen nodded slightly, replying with a short, "Fair enough." A silence came over the pair briefly, but was quickly broken by the same one who started the initial pause. "Look, best guess I've got is that the others didn't really convince you? Or did Savage and MUTT just freak you the fuck out?"

Tyler looked across at the other teen, and realization suddenly dawned on him and a sour look overcame his features. "They never had any intentions of letting me get out of this, were they?"

"Sorry to say, but you're stuck in this now," The teen revealed with a slight nod, turning to actually side-glance at Tyler. "You may not like this, and I'm not a person who tries to sprinkle a pile of shit, this thing will probably fuck you up. A _lot._ Sometimes, you will question why you're even bothering. Matt-"

There was a lingering pause, long enough for Tyler to look across, and a semi-pained look seemed to overtake the teen's face, with eyes screwed shut momentarily. Barely two seconds passed before he opened his eyes once again and tried to hide the previous expression, resuming, "Matt.. he died for this. Died for me. Those... Government bastards killed him, thinking that'd stop us…"

"…Now you're bullshitting. They said the Blue Ranger was killed by those.. freaky fuckers," Tyler retorted, walking carefully around the grave, mindful of what lay mere feet below him, so he was directly opposite the other teen.

"I was fucking there. He died in my arms. Trust me, I think I know what killed him," was the sharp snap of a reply, even surprising Tyler at the fire behind the words. "I hardly think the government are gonna make themselves look like the bad guys when you've got fucking Wolkeins running around…"

"What the hell is a Wolkein?" Tyler asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Those faceless bastards you see us fighting constantly. At least I think you do, I really don't give a shit about what you Americans watch on the news. Gonna be biased against us."

"Why do I get the feeling that I'm gonna need a context page to understand half of what the hell you guys are gonna be talking about. That's even if I consider actually staying for this shit," Tyler said, pacing back and forth a few times, lasting the length of the grave separating them.

"I've already told you, you don't really have a say in it. The Howlers already bonded with your blood, and you're not gonna get it off unless you're willing to part with that wrist of yours," The other teen said, dropping the bombshell. "But if you're going to listen to anything that I say, then this had better be it." He walked around the grave, a noticeable limp in his steps, as he got on the same side as Tyler.

"Any pain that you're gonna go through, any.. mental breakdowns or suicidal thoughts, trust me, with what could happen if we don't stop this threat, then those are gonna be tiny in the scale when everything's taken into consideration."

He took a step closer, barely three feet separating the pair now. "I had my doubts about doing this, just so you know. And while I'm sure others would have accepted this.. fate, you could call it, in a heartbeat, I'm sure they wouldn't have lasted as long as this. Matt was strong, you've just got to prove that you're stronger."

There was another pause, before the teen leaned back, saying, "Now I've got to get back in there, so the choice is yours. It'd be much better, for all of us, if you do it willingly, the only really way out of this.. is when you die."

Tyler exchanged a look with the teen as they backed up, limping around the grave and headed towards the door he just came through. "I've really got no choice, have I?" he asked, still standing on the spot.

"No... But the moment that Howler was put on your wrist, your life? Your old life is gone, you've only got this life or the Government won't hesitant to hunt you down and do exactly what they did to Matt," The teen stated, rolling his shoulder slowly while the other hand clenched into a slight fist. A moment passed and his hand relaxed slightly, and he continued walking. "We're assholes, don't get me wrong. But in this situations, you'll be one of the good assholes." He walked a few steps further, before throwing, "Name's Isaac, by the way. Figured you'd need to know, since we're gonna be working close together, pretty soon."

With that, he vanished from sight, disappearing behind the trees and ducking into the bunker-like entrance. Leaving Tyler by himself, with only the freshly turned dirt spoiling his surroundings. His eyes exchanged between his feet, the dirt before him and the Howler that now seemed very present on his wrist. He raised it up again, catching the light just enough to reflect brightly, the eye's gem glowing brightly. As if the Howler itself was presenting some sort of life. _'Maybe that's what he meant,'_ Tyler thought, turning his wrist and watched as the light as it channeled through the crystal. He inhaled slowly, eyes closing shut, hiding the thoughts running through his head as he tried coming to a conclusion.

* * *

 **So...this was probably one of the longer spaces between updates. For this, I can only apologize so much. From now, I'm not going to have a set schedule for parts coming out; they'll come out as they go.**

 **As always, please R this is what motivates me to write more parts :P**

 **Nf991**


	20. Episode 19 - Back in Blue, Part 2

Back in Blue, Part 2

The door to the centre of the Den slid open, drawing the attention of all those inside. A mixture of anxiety and impatient hitting Isaac immediately upon entering. He limped in, alone.

"Did you work your magic?" Tanya asked, pushing off of the desk she had made into a temporary chair.

"Ain't no magic in what I say; just the truth. No sugar coating or any of that shit," Isaac replied briskly, walking peg-legged to the nearest seat, and roughly eased himself down with a low groan. "Got any of that Instinct MUTT?"

The robot was by Isaac's side in moments, making the final preparations with the liquid-filled syringe. Isaac's sleeve was rolled up by this stage, and the needle was quickly inserted into his skin. He tensed, but it only lasted a moment, before relaxing as the pain was dulled somewhat. He checked the needle, finding it only half filled with the green medication. "C'mon, MUTT. Don't be fucking stingy."

" _A larger dose would bring your chemical readings to a dangerous level. Which would result in a potential risk to your health, as well as other side effects,"_ MUTT warned, pulling the needle from Isaac's arm, setting the half-filled needle on the table beside him. _"You have already been taken larger doses than when you started, only due to your body becoming accustomed to the amounts you have been given."_

Isaac slumped back, rolling his eyes as MUTT moved aside, returning to the nearest computer. He went to start tapping away again, but paused when one of the doors slid open again. The others turned to look, and a wave of relief washed off of number of their faces.

There, standing in the open door frame, was Tyler, the Howler still very much visible on his wrist, his fingers slowly clenching and unclenching. Taking a low breath, he slowly stepped forward, passing through the door, which quickly slid close behind him. He came to a stop a few steps further, still very much separate from the rest of the room's occupants. "Guess I'm one of the good assholes now then," He finally said, seeming very reluctant as he spoke.

Kyle looked over to Isaac, and asked, "Seriously? Did you just say to him, 'Hey, we're assholes but we're the good guys'?"

"Basically yeah," Isaac agreed, nodding. "Don't knock it when it works."

"Look, let me just say this," Tyler stated, hands stuffing themselves in his trouser pockets as he paced around to sit across the room. "Before you go off on a fucking tangent, talking shit that sounds like, fucking Chinese or something, I'm not gonna understand anything. So, just.. cut me a bit of slack, OK? And you, freaky.. wolf thing…"

Savage's muzzle twisted into a faint scowl at the comment, a low growl rumbling from the depth of his chest.

"Ok, seriously, you sure he's not gonna eat me or something?" Tyler questioned, looking between the other teens.

"Dunno. We haven't pissed him off that much," Natalie commented, a small smirk tugging at the corner of her lips.

"C'mon Nat, don't make him piss himself when he's convinced himself to join our merry little band of fuckwits," Isaac replied, rising to his feet as the last traces of the throbbing pain faded away. The others looked as though they wanted to retort at Isaac's comment, but were cut off by the sharp alarm blaring and the screens surrounding MUTT flashing an alarming red.

" _Demon presence in this Realm. Location sent to your Howlers,"_ MUTT informed, tapping a few keys to cancel the alarm. Five sets of mechanical growls echoed each other, though only startled Tyler. He raised it up, but got an answer from Kyle.

"MUTT's just sent the location to the Howlers."

"OK, seriously, you're not even remotely confused by the fact that, and I'm not sure if this is offensive or anything, a _robot_ is able to have to read like, voodoo and all that shit?" Tyler questioned, as the others got up from their relaxed positions and began moving to, seemingly, predesignated positions. Tanya gave Tyler a pat on the shoulder, and with a bit of a push, turned him around so he was facing away from MUTT and Savage, like the others were.

"Trust us, that'll be nothing compared to some of the shit you'll see," Natalie offered, flashing a small smile as she brought her Howler across her chest. The others did the same, so Tyler was quickly copied, a strange feeling of.. power surge down his arm, then into his main body. His heart rate increased, though he wasn't sure of that was the adrenaline starting to kick in or that was something to do with this…thing.

"Stick with us and you'll be fine," Isaac assured, slowly flexing his hand into a tight fist.

"Or you'll straight up get your ass handed to you," Kyle said bluntly.

"Kyle," Isaac rolled his eyes, "shut up."

More would have been said, but blinding light encased each of the five teens; Tyler tried to speak, but found that all air just…escaped his lungs without a word spoke.

The flash of light lasted only a few seconds, and when it faded, the spots where the teens had been standing now sat vacant. MUTT moved away from his computer, and went to clear up after the teens, when he paused and looked around carefully.

" _Savage, did you move the syringe?"_

* * *

Five shards of light struck the ground at the city centre of Pax Valley, cracks etching into the concrete with the sudden weight manifested from the columns. From four of the now faded columns, the armoured Warriors, somewhat relaxed stances, yet still looked ready to floor the nearest threat.

The last column.. didn't look as ready to fight. Not that he wasn't prepared; the blue-and-silver armour stood out against the cracked grey beneath him. Just his stance was a bit.. off.

" _You'll get the hang of it eventually,"_ Kyle said, quickly offering a hand for the winded Beta Warrior to take. A few seconds later, his offer was taken and Tyler was pulled to his feet. He pulled his hand free, and spent a few seconds looking over his, now gloved and armoured, palms, quickly bringing them up to feel the strange sensation of the helmet.

" _This is fucking weird.. thought it was going to be like fucking spandex or some shit. Not some God damn suit of armour,"_ Tyler commented, pulling at the layered armour plating around the one shoulder.

" _You can complain about the stylistic choices with Savage and MUTT later. Right now, let's sort out these Demon bastards,"_ Isaac instructed, gesturing for the others to follow as he tore off down the street, a blur of red tearing up small chunks of concrete as he ran.

" _Wow…"_ Was all Tyler said, stepping aside to avoid getting showered in the dust and shrapnel kicked up by Isaac.

" _You know what they say,"_ Kyle said, stepping around in front of Tyler. _"Sometimes, you've got to run before you can walk."_ He turned as he spoke, and not a moment later, took off as well. This time, Tyler couldn't avoid getting caught in the dust that kicked up, though quickly realized that the helmet prevented anything getting to him.

" _And how exactly are you gonna find where these bastards are?!"_ Tyler called after the other guys, even going so far as to bring his hands up to a cone around the mouth guard.

" _The Howler's gonna put the location up on your HUD, so it's just going to be a case of, can you keep up?"_ Tanya questioned, tapping his shoulder and gestured for him to follow. He turned to look at Natalie, clad in her white and silver armoured form, who gestured for Tyler to follow the pair of them. With what he assumed was a final, smug smirk, the two girls tore down the path, further kicking up concrete. This left Tyler alone, standing there motionless.

Yet beneath the armour, gears were trying to turn, only to get clogged with all this information crammed into every moving part.

" _What the fuck did I get myself into?"_ He asked himself, leaving forward slightly, and after a few failed starts, managed to get some speed together and tore off after the others, albeit at a much more unsteady pace, larger chunks of concrete getting kicked up with each of his odd missteps.

"Are you finally satisfied with the location you have chosen?" Death questioned, arms folded behind his back, pacing back and forth, all while facing the other Warlord.

He and Batibat stood at the centre of a circle of Wolkeins. In Batibat's hands, a strange staff was present; glowing red engravings decorated the visible staff, with what appeared to be snake-like carvings securing a large, red-glowing crystal at the head of the ceremonial-looking weapon.

"Another comment in that tone, and the end of this staff will be dug into that head of yours," Batibat warned, sparing a glare at the other Warlord before returning her eyes to the ground, seemingly looking for something. "Master gave us this location, so this is where it shall go," She continued, taking a few steps forward, staff tip slicing across the concrete like paper. Almost dead centre in the City now, she came a stop and stabbed the tip of the staff into the ground.

"Here."

The staff was raised off the ground, gripped with both her hands. She was about to bring it down, when both she and Death became aware of the Wolkeins' warning. She turned, and her lips twitched into a faint scowl when four, unfortunately, familiar streaks of colour came into view, stopping just beyond the wall of Wolkeins.

"The Warriors," Death commented aloud, slowly drawing the bladeless hilt and activated the deathly blade; pouring green fog from the now glowing hilt and blade.

Batibat's eyes narrowed when the four streaks faded, revealing the four armoured Warriors of their respective colours. It soon faded, however, and was replaced with a sly smirk as she rested the spear against the ground, and took a few steps closer, casting a red-tinted charm to keep the staff standing in place. "I would have thought you'd give up, after the loss of your Beta," She taunted, one hand on hip as she stepped through the sea of Wolkeins; parting either side of her, grunts and gravely groans their only forms of noise.

Isaac's hands clenched into fists, and went to take a step forward. He probably would have moved all the way until he was face-to-face with Batibat, if Tanya hadn't grabbed him by the wrist. He threw a look over his shoulder, and the two emotionless helmets faced one another. Despite the masks they wore, they could tell what the other was thinking.

After a few seconds, Tanya released his wrist, and Isaac remained in place, only taking a few steps back to return to his original spot. _"If you are done trying to be smug, Goth, then you and Creepypasta other there better cut that shit out now,"_ Isaac stated, gesturing to Batibat, then to Death.

Batibat smirked, coming to a stop now she was standing outside the wall of Wolkeins, forming a solid mass behind her. "And why is that?" She questioned.

" _Because whatever you're thinking, guess what? You're dead_ fucking _wrong, 'cause we've got our Beta!"_ Kyle stated, turning to look behind him. _"In fact, here he comes now."_

All parties turned at Kyle's last sentence, and that smug grin faded a fraction from Batibat's face. Death took a step closer as well. Numerous sets of eyes focused on a single object, quickly getting closer and closer to the groups.

And.. tore right past them, slamming full force into a buildings' side, and actually knocking through the wall. All that was left was an outline in the bricks, vaguely resembling a humanoid shape.

While Natalie gave a slight shake of her head and Isaac face palmed hard, the smirk returned to Batibat's face, turning from the buildings' new doorway and looked back to the Warriors. "Am I supposed to be intimidated by that?"

" _Y'know what, fuck it. Nat, go get Sonic over there. Tanya, Kyle, we're taking these bastards out,"_ Isaac ordered, gesturing to each of them in turn, and turned back around to glare right at Batibat. _"The Emo Bitch is mine,"_ He all by snarled, words coming out as a bloodthirsty growl through the filter, before he tore forward, throwing himself at the she-Demon.

The two sent themselves crashing into the Wolkeins, yet to be given orders to intercept. When Death finally shouted the order out, Kyle and Tanya threw themselves at the nearest Wolkeins, already braking limbs and throwing bodies over shoulders. Natalie dodged one such body that came flying at her, and quickly moved off, as much as she wanted to join in the fight, and help the others, she had been given orders that said otherwise.

" _Tyler!"_ She called, stepping through the hole he had created, throwing aside a few bricks in her search. Her scans managed to pick out a crumpled shape among the bricks and, what turned out to be, shattered tables. Moving forward and dropping to her knees, she brushed off shrapnel and pulled him free, grabbing a fistful of his armour and firmly shaking, trying to rouse him. _"C'mon, Tyler! Now isn't the time for this!"_

Failing to get him up, Natalie unclasped the clips either side of his helmet and all but tore his helmet off. Upon this, she noticed that he was, in fact, awake, eyes wide, breathing shaky with a bit of blood at the corner of his lips and down the side of his head. Now that his helmet was off, Natalie could hear him speaking.

"I can't… I… I can't do this… I can't do this! I can't!"

He threw himself up, almost knocking Natalie out in the process, and supported himself with one of the tables he didn't destroyed, stumbling across the room, breathing sporadically. He slowly slumped to his knees, propped up on the table by his elbows, as his hands ran groves through his short hair. Only when Natalie brought a hand down on his shoulder, was he brought back from his panic.

" _Listen here,"_ Natalie said, managing to turn Tyler around to face her, that accomplished, she brought her hands up and removed her own helmet, hair coming down around her faintly bruised face. "Listen! I know what you're going through! Do you think that none of us were shitting ourselves when we first got told all of this? That we still don't feel like that now?"

"You've been at this for months!" Tyler exclaimed, bringing his hands up to bring down his face, eyes closed. "You've actually _had_ training from that furry back there! Me? Closest I got to fighting was in the 8th grade!"

"OK!" Natalie said, pausing briefly to gather herself. "OK… OK, I get where you're coming from. You're scared, I'd be calling your bullshit if you said you weren't. But right now, the others are out there, fighting. For you, for everyone, for this town," She said, gesturing out of the building. "Now I would say you've got two options, but in this case, you really only have one; you go out there and you give it your all. You stay in here, eventually they'll find you and they're gonna try and tear you apart."

Tyler brought his head up from his hands, and was met with the Blue helmet. His reflection in the visor staring right back at him, as well as the silver fang-like trim surrounding it. Slowly, one of his hands found its way to the helmet's underside, and eased it from Natalie's grip. He looked up to Natalie, shoulders sagging with a long exhale. "Do I at least get a gun or something?"

"Not a gun… _Savage prefers a more, close combat style,"_ Natalie replied, curling her hair up and locked her helmet back into place. And not a moment too soon, it seemed. A Wolkein burst through the wall, the second in as many minutes it seemed, and came to a crash landing not far from Natalie and Tyler. The pair quickly got to their feet, both helmets had now locked in place, and while the white-clad Warrior shifted into a fighting stance, the Blue Beta tried copying her stance. Though it was clear, by his sloppy, uneasy stance, that he was untrained. A fact that this Wolkein seemed to pick up on, bringing itself from the rubble, roughly shaking off the shrapnel and releasing a bellowing, unearthly snarl. It focused on the pair to its side, and surged towards them.

Tyler wasn't sure how to react, his natural instinct pulling him back and away from the fight. But he soon saw that Natalie didn't seem to share the same instinct anymore, she dived right in, delivering a knee to the faceless creature's head, its head jerking back to an unnatural angle from the force. It stumbled backwards, though quickly recovered and began slashing its dagger wildly at Natalie. Tyler expected it to make contact, but no sparks came or connective blow was made. Instead, with one such strike coming towards her, Natalie brought her fists together and outstretched them.

The dagger sparking upon striking the white-tinted blade. Natalie delivered a kick to the creature's torso, sending it backwards and quickly advanced, not giving it time to readjust. Delivering the final blow, she slammed the dulled, middle section between her hands against the creature's head, forcing it further back. It's back slammed against the wall, knocking off several framed scenic pictures. It tried going back on the attack, but was brought to a fatal stop when Natalie, having advanced and spun, used the momentum in her spin to stab the back end of her blade into the creature's torso.

Blade pulled free, she gave two more stabs, one to the throat, as the creature slumped to the ground, what life it had extinguished. She pulled back entirely, a few steps back, breathing heavily at the adrenaline rush.

" _Wow."_

She turned around, chest still rising and falling faintly, to see Tyler coming out from behind cover. _"That,"_ He said, carefully stepping over chunks of wall, _"Was fucking amazing, yet strangely terrifying. Did you watch Phantom Menace lately or something?"_

Natalie scoffed and rolled her eyes, giving a quick shake of her head, before the sounds of more Wolkeins outside caught her attention. _"Come on. The others are probably gonna be pissed if we're out of the fight any more."_ She moved towards the hole Kyle had created, patting his shoulder, indicating for him to follow, as she vanished back into the scarred street. He hesitated momentarily, but figured that Natalie's warning would soon come to fruition, he gave a low exhale and slowly headed out.

And almost immediately, he was nearly sent back into the building by another Wolkeins' body. _"Took you long enough!"_ Tyler heard Kyle's voice shout at his direction. He turned back around and, for the first time, saw the full scale of things.

To the teens actually fighting their way through the Wolkeins around them, they might have been all they saw. But for Tyler, he saw the full scale of this current threat. Swarms of Wolkeins seemed to pour out of every crack and gap between buildings, seemingly everywhere a shadow was cast. And they just kept coming and coming; replacing the fallen as quickly as they fell. Tanya and Kyle had their backs to each other, fending off a larger circle of Wolkeins with apparent ease, Wolkein heads sent sailing through the air, limb-less bodies kicked through hordes of others.

Even though she had just barely re-joined the fight, Natalie had found herself among a large Wolkein circle. Not that she appeared to be struggling, Tyler noted, if the number of Wolkein bodies at her feet, limbs missing and scars dug deep and spewing toxic-looking blood, were anything to go by.

" _Wow!"_ Tyler exclaimed, ducking and barely missing a dagger to the face. Instead, it embedded itself in the wall behind him, another brick damaged and beyond repair. He moved forward and turned to the attacker. It _looked_ like one of the regular Wolkeins, but it had some notable differences. The most prominent being the crimson-armour adorning his shoulders. It pulled the dagger free from the wall, a low snarl radiating from the mouthless void of its head, and began advancing on Tyler. _"Shit, shit, shit, shit!"_ He said to himself, hands outstretched defensively as he backed up, away from the advancing Wolkein.

It surged forward all of a sudden, trying to catch Tyler off guard. In a panic, Tyler stumbled and fell onto his back, only managing to prop himself part way up when the blow was coming, only managing to cross his forearms, and squeezed his eyes shut.

He waited.. and waited, and waited.. but nothing came. He opened one eye, then both eyes when he saw the blade stuck between his armoured forearms. The Wolkein, however, wasn't frozen by a mixture of amazement and possible fear, and quickly pulled back, ready to strike again. But the second strike never came, it was thrown back, struck by the flying body of another Wolkein. Kyle froze, but turned to look towards the source.

" _Watch yourself! Get your Wolf Blade out!"_ Natalie shouted, ducking to avoid a swing and stabbing the attacker through the shoulder. _"Just copy what you saw me do!"_

" _Right.. yeah, easier said than done,"_ Tyler said to himself, nodding slightly, before he tried slamming his closed fists together. Much like with his earlier running, he found he couldn't master it the first few times, but after dodging another attack by sheer luck at this stage, a blue beam of steel extended from sides of his fists, and around his clenched fingers. _"Wow…"_ He said to himself, briefly admiring the weapon that formed from his hands. Not that he could for long, when he ducked to avoid a wild slash; inadvertently slicing through the shin of an unfortunate Wolkein.

That one falling to the floor, unable to maintain balance, and Tyler tried thinking of games he'd played for hours on end, surely they, of all things, would come in handy at this.

* * *

"Vile, wrenched human!" Batibat snarled, pushing against Isaac's helmet, hammering his body against the side of the nearest building. Isaac retaliated, finding purchase against the building, and managed to slam both of them to the ground. The pair of them had separated from the main fighting force at some stage, and it had already taken themselves through a set of abandoned buildings.

" _Are you done with the name calling, bitch?"_ Isaac retorted, managing to get behind Batibat and wrapped his arms under hers and behind her head, trying to lock her arms out of use. He managed to hold on for a while, even lasting through Batibat forcing them back into the open, creating yet another hole in the building. But he finally broke off when Batibat slammed the back of her head against his helmet, such force used that a number of fine cracks ran vertically across his visor. His grip loosened entirely, and retained his footing soon after, drawing his Wolf Blade. Shifting into a brief stance, he rushed forward again, aiming low.

The blade swung, yet hit nothing but air, Batibat flipped into the air, missing the blade by a few inches and landed a short distance away, daggers drawn. Both Demon and Warrior stood still, facing one another as the former caught his breath; distastefully glaring at the Demon, having no need to breathe. She was the first to move, darting forward at a near-impossible speed, bringing one dagger down and the other up, expecting at least one to hit its mark. As it turned out, it was the former, the upward strike was caught by Isaac's Wolf Blade, but that left his arm exposed to the downward blow. Sparks flew from the point of contact, forcing Isaac back, favouring his injured arm.

But Batibat was unrelenting, sending strike after strike at Isaac. The Red Alpha was forced on the defensive, taking large steps back to try and reduce the force behind the attacks. One specific attack forced him back too far, misjudging his step and ended up tripping over his own feet, Wolf Blade clattering just out of reach.

He went to try and grab it, but Batibat moved quicker, bringing her heeled foot down on Isaac's helmet. This elected a modified, pained grunt from under his mouth guard. From his position, visor facing the side, he could only see so much of the looming Demon above him.

"You have Fire in your heart, I shall give you that, Human," Batibat stated, flicking a few strands of stray hair behind her ear, flowing back with the rest of her dark, flowing locks. She slowly crouched down, one knee on the ground and the other foot still firmly planted the side of Isaac's helmet. The tip of her dagger slowly pressed against the side of his visor, forming more cracks. "Perhaps one day, should you survive, and with the right training, you might prove to be a worthy opponent," Batibat mused, slowly trailing her dagger down across Isaac's visor, slicing through the vertical cracks already present.

"But now, you are still not trained, a true Warrior would've foresaw both those attacks," She continued, stabbing the dagger forward slightly, taking a small chunk of the visor out from the rest, as well as a small chunk out from the red of the helmet. She rose to her feet again, and removed herself from his helmet, delivering a kick to Isaac's gut with the very same foot. "Why don't you be a submissive little pup, and stay here? I've got more important things to take care of."

Unable to respond, recovering from the stabbing kick to the gut, Isaac's only response was trying to get up as Batibat turned and walked away, soon vanishing from sight in a black-and-green portal. _"Emo Bitch,"_ He grunted, coughing up what he suspected was blood, collecting in the internal groves of his helmet. He slowly rose to his feet, uninjured arm wrapped around his stomach and propped himself upright with his Wolf Blade.

He grunted lowly, and tried making his way back to the original battlefield. Even from his position, far down the street, the number of Wolkeins wasn't exactly easy to miss.

* * *

Another portal opened up beside the ceremonial staff, with Death defending said staff, throwing Wolkeins aside, initially sent flying in his direction from the Warriors. He looked over his shoulder, slicing a Wolkein in half effortlessly, either half flying to the ground behind him. "Had enough toying with the Alpha?" He questioned, as Batibat walked into view.

"He's young. If he had proper training, and wasn't a human, he could've proved to be of some use," Batibat replied sharply, venom laced between her every word, as she snatched the staff from its levitating point. Now in her grasp, the red engraves began glowing anew, handled between her two hands. "But enough time has been wasted already," She continued, raising the staff up once again, "The time to do as the Master ordered."

The tip of the staff stabbed into the ground, far deeper than before. At this, the very ground shook beneath their feet, the surprise sending the surviving Wolkeins and the Warriors to the ground. Some Wolkeins even disappearing through the ground via portals, and others started to pick up on what they were supposed to do, beginning to follow their lead.

" _Wow! What the hell's going on!?"_ Tyler shouted, getting thrown aside from the quakes, finding himself joined by Tanya, the Yellow Gamma almost knocking herself out after failing to get a good stance before the ground gave out beneath her.

" _Whatever it is, we need to take it out before it takes the city out!"_ Tanya replied, trying to find purchase and managed to get to her hands and knees, but couldn't get any further progress without falling down again. Doing what she could, she looked around, finding Kyle and Natalie in similar stages of trying to find their feet with these violent vibrations.

" _Isaac, where they hell are you?!"_ Tanya shouted into her Howler, supporting her back against the nearest building, joined by Tyler, and looked around the corner. All she could see was the pair of Demons standing there, the source of all this shaking stabbed into the ground between them.

" _I'm getting there! Had my ass handed to me by the Emo Bitch, so I'm gonna be slow,"_ Isaac's voice returned down the Howler, just as intensely as Tanya's. _"What the hell is with this shaking anyway?!"_

" _Whatever kind of staff they've got, that's what! Kyle! Kyle! Try and get a scan on that over to MUTT, see if he and Savage have any idea what we're dealing with here!"_ Tanya said, throwing her voice towards the other Warrior mid-sentence. She wasn't sure if Isaac gave a response or not, since a brick struck her right on the helmet's side, sending ringing in her ears. _"Fuck…"_

As the Warriors talked among themselves, trying to organize themselves, Batibat and Death's attentions were fully focused on the staff between them. The engravings pulsed a dangerous red, resonating from the gems at the top, and driving into the ground. The cracks closest to the staff pulsing a dark red, partially obscured by shadow. "Soon, we will see just how much the Humans have intervened with our Masters' pre-planning," Batibat proclaimed aloud, smirking as the gem at the very top started to glow a darker shade. Crackling mystic energy formed around it, working its way up from the newly-formed cracks.

A whining noise, barely audible, was the only warning the teens would have heard, before the next blow came. The crystal changed from a glowing red to a bright white, and changed back in a flash, the resulting flash echoing out into a full-on shock-wave, visible knocking out any nearby windows and shaking the buildings to their very foundations. The wave went further, streaking across the city, and beyond the borders of the city. Then the borders of the state.

The borders of America were passed within just thirty seconds of the initial blast.

At the heart of it all, the teens found themselves suffering from such close proximity to the shock-wave's origin, the ringing lasted for what seemed far too long, but even when it stopped, there were more problems that concerned them.

" _This thing's packing up!"_ Tyler shouted in alarm, fist slamming against his Howler repeatedly. Tanya looked at her own, and tried making contact with Savage and MUTT. But she didn't get anything; not even the usual growl that came from these strange devices on their wrists. Even the eye piece wasn't lighting up!

" _Shit! We're on our own then,"_ Tanya replied, trying to keep her voice level; while on the inside, her brain was whirling, trying to keep from panic. Whenever they got into situations like this, she wasn't _that_ concerned, even when she knew they should've been, since Savage showed them his armour, she always saw themselves having that.. safety buffer around them. Right now, though, that buffer was gone…

" _Come on!"_ She said, trying to keep herself from going further down that path, and hoped to God that the comms between them still properly worked. _"We've got to take that thing out! I don't see things getting better if it stays there!"_

Natalie and Kyle seemed to understand her, both giving her physical responses, and Tanya have a three finger countdown. The moment the last digit dropped, the four all rushed out from behind their cover. Immediately following that, they barely dodged several shots of ghoulish green blasts, instead, they struck the floor, seemingly dissolving a small section upon striking.

Batibat and Death remained beside the staff, sending out demonic blasts of energy towards the slow advancements of these Warrior-wannabes. Despite the impossible-to-read expression on Batibat and shroud of darkness covering whatever Death had, they clearly weren't trying their hardest. They had the assumption that there wouldn't be much problem, holding these Warriors off long enough-

A strike to Batibat's shoulder caused her to almost drop, letting out a hissing shout as she dropped her sword. She threw a deathly glare over her shoulder, and was immediately met with a silver-and-red fist straight to the jaw. The force sent her flying ten or so feet forward, onto the ground. Death postponed his assault and turned to strike whoever was behind them. His blade met another, and his gaze soon fell upon their surprise attacker.

"I thought Batibat took care of you!" Death snarled, pressing his blade down against the shorter Warrior.

But Isaac had a firm stance, and stood his ground, even managing to push Death back a few inches. _"Not going to let some eyeliner-lover take me down,"_ Isaac responded sharply, glancing around Death a few seconds after.

Death turned back around to see what had taken his opponent's interest, and was immediately met with two sword blades striking across his front, shredding some of his robes and sending sparks flying. Death himself was sent flying aside, revealing both Natalie and Tanya to be his attackers. _"Come on! That things still in the ground!"_ Tanya shouted, quickly moving in with Natalie and Isaac, all three grabbing the handle of the staff at the same time. Demonic energy flowed around the three sets of hands upon contact, and when they tried removing it, the energy wrapped around their arms as they tried to find a stance.

Kyle quickly joined them, moving among the other three, but even with all four of them, the staff was still firmly lodged in the ground. Isaac opened his eyes, teeth still firmly grit and hands feeling as though they were tearing their flesh off the bone, and saw the Blue-clad armour standing a little bit away.

" _Matt! Matt! Get the fuck over here! Get over here and give a hand!"_ He shouted, jerking his head towards Tyler.

" _Matt! What's wrong with you?!"_

" _Get over here and help!"_

" _For fucks sake Matt! Fucking get over here!"_

All four of them shouted to Tyler, who remained in place. He slowly looked down upon his hands, flexing the silver-and-blue armoured palms and forearms. His breathing hit the guard of the helmet hard, hitting him right back, sweat slowly dripping down his forehead. Slowly, however, his fists closed up into fists, and the constant shouts finally caused him to loom up.

The four were still trying their hardest, pulling with all the might they could muster from their armour. Their palms were surely reddened by this stage, and progressing onto growing bloody at the force of their grip. Muscles were tensed beyond anything they could remember, and were sure their teeth were close to shattering. And all the while, the crystal at the top of the serpent-decorated spear pulsed rapidly, the pulses echoing out at a blinding pace. That was when Isaac felt a hand brush his, and a shoulder shoving against between himself and Kyle's frames.

All four of them felt the addition and looked between themselves, and found Tyler shoving himself between them all, grabbing sections that were bare of hands. He looked around at the others, teeth grit as he said, _"I'm not Matt."_

He adjusted his stance and began pulling, grunting with effort as he strained. The others all gave small nods of understand, and together, they five pulled with all their strength. Muscles strained in a single movement, all five sets of hands holding on for dear life.

Ever so slightly, the staff rose an inch.

Still clenching her green-blood soaked shoulder, Batibat brought herself up onto her hands and knees, facing the staff. Her eyes widened, picking up the nanometres of the staff's movement, and tried rushing over to stop it. "NOOO!" She screeched, jumping towards the five.

Just as, with a burst of strength, the staff was wrenched free of the ground. A blast of light broke free, blinding all those in the vicinity. Bodies were slammed into buildings, dents formed onto streets and the ringing returned. Even when the light was gone, the ringing continued. Tyler found himself in a newly formed dent in the street, ears ringing so much all other noise was cancelled out. He tried getting up, but found himself suddenly lacking energy, instead, he rolled over, partially out of the hole he had created. He looked around, finding the others in similar situations to him, dents, looking like they could barely move, and assuming they were growing death as well.

With a bit of effort, he climbed the rest of the way out of his hole, still unable to stand up fully. A bit of further looking around revealed more, the staff was no more, reduced to mostly rubble. Only the head of the staff seemed to survive in one piece…only thing was he didn't realize was the black nails wrapped around it before…

That was when he looked up from the crystal, and tried standing up with new vigour.

Batibat rose to her feet, serpent-encased crystal in hand. She held it close, almost like a mother cradling a child, before her gaze rose to the partially standing Beta Warrior across the street. The two were silent, no words to be said, as they stared each other down. Batibat looked as though she was going to make towards him, but she was held back when Death stood partially in front of her, back to Tyler. He seemed to speak with her, but with the ringing combined with his back facing him, it was impossible to tell. Only thing he thought he saw was Death grabbing one of her wrists; the one holding the staff's crystal head.

Throwing one last dirty look over Death's shoulder, Batibat followed her fellow Warlord through a portal, vanishing from sight. But the physical damage they left would be a constant reminder of their presence.

Moments passed, and Tyler felt himself grow light-headed, he would've been eating concrete, had he not been caught. He looked aside, finding Isaac beside him, putting himself beneath Tyler's shoulder, bringing him back up to stand. Now supported, Tyler finally stood properly and turned to look at Isaac, helmets blocking direct eye contact, but somehow, he knew what Isaac was saying. Or rather, trying to bring across.

He saw Isaac raise his Howler and must've spoken into it, because the next thing he knew, his vision was encased in another bright light, only this time, it was a bright blue.

* * *

"What the fuck was that thing?" Kyle questioned, leaning over one of the tables within the Den. The teens were spread out across the main room, with Savage finishing off MUTT's work on Natalie's latest cuts. Said robot had returned to one of the computers, sparks flying from the cables. He tried tapping the keyboard, but more sparks flew up, forcing him back.

" _Whatever the true nature of this staff was, it appears similar enough to have interfered with the devices within the Den,"_ MUTT responded, leaning around the computer and forcefully removing the cable. Sparks flew like water, and MUTT casually toss the cable to the ground.

"EMP blast," Tyler translated, sitting across from the den, thick bandages wrapped around his chest and over his shoulder. Shirt had been torn to shreds at some stage, so he knew he had to grab some more somewhere. "Most of that shit's gotta be fried."

" _Significant damage has been dealt to the equipment, but it is repairable. I just need time,"_ MUTT commented, crouching down and shoving one of the computers aside, revealing a previously hidden cupboard. The doors were opened, revealing multiple replacement parts, mostly computer and wires, but some appeared to look more like limbs.

As MUTT began fitting together the replacements, Savage cut the stitching wire and gestured that Natalie was done. "That is not the only concern," He stated, tossing the rest of the stitching thread into what MUTT had designated the 'medical supplies'. He left a few seconds for the teens to turn to him, before continued, "When that staff activated itself, not only did MUTT's equipment get damaged, but the majority of your human's technology. We were using that to have an advantage for any territory intruders."

"So basically we're blind until MUTT can get the tech here back online?" Tanya questioned, managing to get herself to her feet and slowly limped over towards Isaac. He had demorphed with the rest of them, but had been strangely quiet throughout their time here. Tanya sat down beside Isaac, one hand gently resting on his knee, giving it a slight squeeze. Across the room, Tyler watched the pair - no words were shared between the pair, but Tyler knew they must understand one another. They'd been here far longer than he had, and judging by their closeness, they knew each other _well,_ lacking a better word.

"That is the essence of what the current situation is," Savage answered, arms folded as he paced back and forth. He came to a brief stop before MUTT, attempting to take interest in what was going on, but that quickly ended.

"What do we do now then?" Natalie asked, propping herself up on an unoccupied space on the nearest table. Her legs swung slightly, her sleeveless arms revealing the number of bruises and cuts, new and old.

"Nothing you can do right now. Rest. Tomorrow, I will begin training to our newest Beta Warrior," Savage replied, glancing to Tyler briefly before widening his range to the rest of the Warriors.

"Fucking hell, being told to rest? Sure Savage wasn't effected by that staff?" Kyle asked, sarcasm hanging heavy as he got up, smirking widely as he headed through to the barracks area.

"He must have been," Natalie agreed, smirking as she caught on with Kyle's sense of humor. Her smirk only widened at Savage's low growl, and quickly disappeared after Kyle, towards her room.

Tanya and Isaac were the next to leave, the former having to use a bit more persuasion to get the latter up and through the door. Leaving Tyler as the last human presence, his darkened skin standing out all the more than the others' did against the pale walls. A small plaster applied to the side of his head, accompanied by a bit of dried blood just above his eyebrow, and another patch above his lip. All he could smell was blood, with what smelled like old dog fur in the background.

"We will get your body accustomed to Instinct, so until then, it will take longer than the others' to be healed," Savage suddenly said, starting Tyler from his thoughts. He brought his gaze up on the Wolf man, and felt an involuntary shiver run up and down his spine.

"OK, seriously dude, you're gonna need to warn me or something, I'm not used to shit like this. You're lucky I'm as open-minded as I've been," Tyler commented, getting up quickly, almost knocking over the chair in his haste. He carefully walked around Savage's looming form, mindful to keep facing him at all times.

"We can agree on one thing right now," Savage commented as Tyler worked around, and almost reached the door. He paused, turning partially around to listen to what Savage had to say. "You're not used to this. But you will need to be, for what is to come, you need to be far more.. open-minded."

Not sure whether to see the Wolf man's words as a warning or a threat, Tyler chose not to reply entirely, and quietly left, doors sliding shut behind him.

* * *

" _ **What is the.. situation? Have you found out what I sent you to find?"**_ Master Horror queried, sat atop his throne, one set of fingers rhythmically tapping the forehead of one of the Skull arm rests. Before him, Batibat and Death stood shoulder-to-shoulder, arms clasped behind their backs and gaze focused downward, neither daring to look up to their Master directly.

"W... We, um…" Batibat began, finding her throat going suddenly dry. "We found the.. information you requested of us, but we discovered something slightly, _slightly,_ more.. of immediate concern," she explained, the last few words coming out as a verbal avalanche.

Horror's rhythmic tapping paused briefly, spiking fear in the Warlords before him. He could _hear_ the fists clenching in alarm, and relaxing ever so slightly when the _tap-tap-tap-tap_ returned. But he saw the subtle changes to their stances when he spoke next, _**"The Beta Warrior.. the armour lives through another."**_

"Y... You know, Master?" Batibat questioned, her fingers flexing anxiously behind her back.

" _ **Not much goes on in this World without my knowledge**_ _,"_ The Master's growl-like tone responded, a bit of a bite to his words. _**"I knew of this.. new Beta Warrior, but he is not of my main concern. He will not be battle ready for some time. No, no.. my main concern now is this - what are the status of the Pillars?"**_

"We have located five Pillars, Master, with the assistance of the _Nightbringer._ However, the sixth Pillar.. appears to have been destroyed. Human interference, most likely," Death answered, his hooded face, making emotions, if he had any, unreadable.

Horror grunted, a low graveling noise, as he replied, _**"Five shall do... It is a mere annoyance at the loss of one. Human curiosity will be the death of them. Now, the next stage shall begin."**_ The tapping stopped again, and both sets of hands gripped the skull arm rests, rising to his feet. His robes draped around his semi-skeletal form, bone fingers clasping one another behind his back. Immediately, Batibat and Death dropped to their knees, bowing before their Master.

" _ **The Pillars must be activated. The preparations must be readied, and then... Oktrix's Fall will truly.. begin!"**_

* * *

"Anything yet?"

"Nothing that seems of significance, unless you think that linking together they're similar taste of fast foods and junk food will yield some results…"

"I don't want jokes, Fredrick. Give me results soon, or you're going to be seeing yourself dropping ranks like you wouldn't believe," E warned, slipping the latest file back into its respective cabinet and slammed it close. Probably with a bit more force than he should have used, but it proved a point.

The D-13 solider, still dressed in solider garb and with the bulletproof vest set to one side for now, carefully fingering through files and papers, all labelled with the tab _'Prescot, T.'._

"What are you expecting to find here, exactly? You really think you're going to find something that connects him with this Hardy kid? I mean, all we've get so far is that they were friends since the fifth grade. But aside from that, do we have any evidence, at all, that suggests they met, knowing that Hardy was the Blue Wolf Ranger?" Fredrick questioned, closing the last cabinet of the tower and moving onto the next one.

"No, but that's because we haven't found that evidence yet," E responded sharply, picking out every piece of paper he came across and examined it closely. Word by word, sentence by sentence, E went through it all.

"Sir!" A new voice said, bursting through the tent flaps, it was one of the guards stationed outside, securing the information tent. "We've got an update from back at base. They've restored comms and are working on everything else."

"How long before we can get an idea on what the hell kind of EMP that was?" E asked, leaving the latest drawer open, files separated where he was looking.

"Dr. Fairweather said she wasn't sure; that she'll get a rough idea when her equipment is back online," The soldier reported.

E nodded slowly, though his expression hid what was truly going on behind his eyes. "Very good. Report back to me with any updates," He ordered.

"Sir!" The soldier replied, saluting sharply and swiftly turned, walking out of the tent.

"That must've been the Tsar Bomb equivalent of an EMP, half the countries gotta be effected by it. How the hell are we gonna explain this one, E?" Fredrick asked, only partially paying attention to the files he was going through.

"Should be relatively easy, in the grand scheme - malfunction at suppliers, terrorist attacks... Hell, play our cards right and we could see the fall of a Dictatorship in the next few years," E responded nonchalantly.

Fredrick paused entirely at that statement, turning around to face E entirely, leaning over the table between them, papers and files of interest scattered across. He was still amazed as to how calm E had been at his own suggestion. "Are you telling me you'd be willing to let this country go to war just to cover up this? Are you _fucking_ insane, Elijah?!"

"What have I said about using my name?" E asked sharply, slamming the drawer he had been looking through close, nothing of interest there. He stepped towards Fredrick, leaning over his side of the table, hands spreading the files apart, revealing numerous documentations and files. "You _don't_ use it. Clear?"

Fredrick held E's glare for a moment, only faltering when, through grit teeth, he said, "Crystal."

E nodded stiffly, before a smirk twitched the corner of his stone-like features. "Besides, you know the people of this country. They'll find it much easier to believe a terrorist attack, than anything else. That's what makes everything easier - their willingness, to accept.. reasonable situations."

 **~Epilogue~**

" _Sire?"_ A robotic voice questioned, raising its fingers from the holographic keyboard he had been working on. A small red flash came from the screen in front of him, halting his tracking. _"There has been an.. update with our Salvac operative, in Sector Zeta-One."_

The answer took a few seconds to come, another figure standing at a large window, hands clasped behind his back. "What is this update?" The other figure asked, authority stitched between his every word.

The cybernetic voice's owner turned back to the screen he had been facing, and tapped a few touchscreen keys. The screen changed, listing information in a strange language. Luckily, the reader could understand.

" _Operative Salvac has…been destroyed. He has…failed to acquire the Energy trace from Sector Sigma-Twelve,"_ He replied eventually, turning back to the other in the room.

The other figure turned back to look through the windows, into the darkness of space; only faint traces of light coming from the distant stars, much too far away to be usable sources of light. Instead, lights illuminated the figure from above the window. A heavy exhale was the initial response, no words coming until later. "The Salvac operative was.. designed to be a persistent soldier. I would be right in saying the most likely cause of his demise would be battle. However, his death has proven a theory I had."

" _What would that be, sire?"_

"That the Planet Earth has a new group of defenders, a new group of... Power Rangers," The figure said, slowly stepping away from the current window and walked across the bridge, the faintest limp to his step, with a heavier _thud_ coming up every second step. He passed consoles and control panels, some old-style and some the latest technology. He came to a stop by another window, his back still to the robotic voice.

"I may have to.. think more about my approach," He stated, hands slowly coming behind his back again. "I should not have assumed it would be like walking through the navy fields of Eatii-Ki. However, I do like a.. challenge. Wouldn't you agree, Sebastian?"

" _Yes sire. You do like missions that expand your knowledge and understand of cultures,"_ Sebastian answered, turning back to his monitor briefly. _"We are now entering the system, Sire."_

"Good…" The figure replied, turning slightly with the window, coming to a stop when his eyes landed on what he had expected to find. "The orbit-trackers are as accurate as ever, it seems; the Kuiper Belt, I believe," He commented, eyes watching the distant rounded bodies of rocks and ice. "Rise the deflector shields, it would be a.. great pity to get struck so close."

" _At once Sire,"_ Sebastian replied, tapping a few more keys and moved some dials and sliders.

"Soon, the Decimator of the 12th Dillune Province will be contained."

* * *

 **Aaaaaand...there's the rest of the chapter. Wanna give a big shoutout to my Beta,** **Charlotte 'Charlie' Hartley, for going over all the parts for me; not sure what I'd do without them.**

 **Hope you guys enjoy this story so far, so please R &R!**

 **Nf991**


	21. Episode 20 - The God's Hand, Part 1

Episode 20 – The God's Hand, Part 1

"I swear we've checked this area before."

"With your sense of direction, we've probably been here three times already," Tanya replied shortly, leaning against one side of the building they had stopped beside.

Kyle exhaled loudly, bringing his hands up to rub his face as he paced back and forth. His fingers traced the bags forming under his eyes, reminding him of the last time he had actually slept. He continued upward, running his fingers through his hair, and allowed his hood to momentarily fall back down. "Can you honestly blame me?"

"Yeah, I can find a way," Tanya replied, giving a small smirk.

"We're trying to search an entire country! It's been _four days straight,_ " Kyle exclaimed, trying to keep his voice down. "I'd like to see you guys try and search the whole of Japan for this Demon thing Savage claims is here!"

"Keep your voice down will you?"

Tanya and Kyle both turned to the third member of their little group. Truth be told, Kyle may or may not have forgotten that Isaac had been accompanying them on their little adventure. He'd been so quiet throughout the four days; dark bags had formed under his eyes, much like Kyle, and his hair looked as though he had just rose from bed, ironically.

"Kyle's taken us here about three or four times, yeah?" Isaac questioned, hand coming from his pocket to gesture between the two. Getting a slow nod in response, Isaac rolled his sleeve up and tapped one of his Howler's buttons. The red gem that made up the eye flashed briefly, before it began pulsing a slow, rhythmic pattern. "Whether it's what Savage sent us here to find or not, he'll have us gutted if we don't look into it," his eyes rose from the Howler, over the horizon.

Tanya and Kyle followed his gaze, taking a moment to look at the sight before them; a great sprawling city, teeming with life. The first signs of the neon lights started to activate on the smaller buildings, nestled among the skyscrapers. The distant sound of multiple horns blasted out, yet to the three teens, they sounded as though they were right next to them. A _very_ sharp contrast to the silent streets of Pax Valley the teens had grown accustomed to.

"Shinjuku. That's what you said, right? Shinjuku, Tokyo?" Tanya questioned.

"Yeah…Busiest railway station in the world. Has to stand for something," Kyle reasoned, giving a slight nod. "And apparently the nosiest…God, really gets your ears ringing…" he rubbed his temples, his face screwing up in mild discomfort.

"Might be due to the fact we haven't really slept in, what, three, four days?" Tanya replied, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "Look, I don't care what Savage will say, we go on like this, and we'll end up killing ourselves. We've gotta crash somewhere."

"Yeah, that'll be easy. Thank God we're in a naturally English speaking country and are loaded with cash," Isaac commented, tone sounding drier than the desert.

"With that tone of yours, I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or if you're just being a dick," Kyle replied, actually turning his body around in Isaac's direction.

"I'm British; means I can be both simultaneously. Call it a gift," Isaac replied blandly, still watching the skyline.

"I call it being a dick."

"Look, we can discuss this later," Tanya interjected, looking between the males. "Yes, we've got no money, and I'm pretty sure none of us is even remotely fluent in Japanese, but c'mon. I think we can manage something like this."

"Let's just go," Isaac grunted, stepping around the pair and headed towards the city; no small feat, considering the vast distance between their current point and the closest point of the city. Kyle assumed that it had to be something close to a couple of miles or something.

Tanya walked after Isaac, pausing momentarily beside Kyle. "Is he still bummed over…you know?" he asked lowly. He got a look for his question; well, more of a glare than a look. Enough for him to answer himself. "Right…don't need to ask that." That seemed to be the kick in the ass that got him moving, quickly following after the already distancing Isaac.

The sole female of the trio shook her head slightly with a soft sigh, bringing her hands up and drawing the hood of her jacket back over her head. Tucking a few loose strands of hair out of sight, she jogged after the guys, closing the gaps rather quickly.

They entered the city soon after, and after mere minutes, Tanya already had a sense of dread starting to build up in the depths of her stomach. The constant noise surrounding the three, the very present feeling of a thousand different people around them, none the wiser to _who_ was walking among them. Even with her face covered with a white surgical mask, Tanya could've sworn that several people looked at her a little _too_ long for it to be a mere glance.

God, she hated this.

The three kept together as best they could, working their way through the swarming crowds of businessmen; had it not been for the surgical masks they, along with many others around them, wore, the three Caucasian teens probably would've drawn more attention. Even this late at night, they all felt themselves looking over their shoulders constantly.

Finally, Kyle pointed out somewhere for them; a hotel entrance, with what looked like a decorative water fountain built into the main doors. They entered through the glass doors, finding the lobby empty, save for the lone staff member working behind the register. Isaac went to move towards the register, but Kyle placed a hand across his chest. "I've got this; you get a little…" he chose his next few words carefully. "A little…agitated, if things go shit-shaped." Giving his chest a few taps, Kyle stepped forward, bringing his own hood down, keeping the surgical mask over his mouth and nose.

"Kon'nichiwa," the staff member behind the check in desk greeted, a Asian man of average height, dressed in casual formal wear. "Dōsureba tasukete kureru no?"

Behind the cover of the opposite side of the desk, Kyle rolled his sleeve up, partially exposing his Howler. His finger hovered over one of the buttons, triggering a short flash from the Howler's eye. Rolling his sleeve back down, and crossed his arms on the edge of the counter. "Uh, yeah. I'd like to get three beds for the night. That possible?"

Behind him, Isaac face-palmed, dragging the hand down as he asked, "Did he just ask the guy in English?"

"…Something like that," Tanya replied lowly, her own hand up pinching the bridge of her nose.

There was silence for a few sections between Kyle and the man, before the latter finally spoke again. Much to the others' surprise, he said, "Of course, we have three available now. And by the looks of you, you and your friends need it." He finished off with a smile, as Kyle blinked slowly, visibly stunned.

A similar look, though much more severe, was visibly painted across Isaac and Tanya's faces. The two shared a look, as Kyle quickly recovered and straightened up. "Uh…yeah, yeah. Thanks."

The man at the register did that same smile as before, before reaching beneath the desk and produced three wrist bands. "You and your male friend will be on the sixth floor; your female friend has to be placed on the eighth floor."

"Uh, yeah, yeah that's fine," Kyle nodded, quickly grabbing the wrist bands and headed back to the other, still stunned, companions.

"How the hell did you do that?" Isaac whispered as he was handed the orange band wrist band, and Tanya received a faded green one.

Tightening his own orange band around his wrist, Kyle replied, "I'll tell you when we actually get to our rooms."

The three approached the desk again, all giving slight nods to the man. They continued onwards, about to step out of the lobby and through the corridors, but found themselves coming to a sudden stop when a cough echoed out. Isaac glanced back, seeing the same man behind the register staring right back at them; still wearing that same smile on his features.

He reached behind him, tapping a knuckle against one of the signs behind him; a picture of shoes, beneath a massive red crossed circle. "Shoes must be left in the lobby," the man informed.

Isaac glared at the man for a brief second, before finally giving in and headed back when Kyle broke off first. "Sooner we get out of this Oriental Search, the better."

* * *

The night drew in rapidly, prompting many all-night businesses to put on their remaining lights and illuminated signs. Even with the dimming light, the waking population continued on through most of Tokyo, with car horns blaring in the constant traffic and pedestrians, tourists and natives alike, enjoying what the city had to offer.

While this was the case for most of Tokyo, there were small pockets of businesses that were closing up for the night. Lights were flicked off, doors were locked and any additional security features were put into place. For one such business, the sign, reading _'SAMURAI MUSEUM'_ in both English and Japanese, one beneath the other, was flicked off.

"Oyasumi," A woman called, slipping her jacket on and pulling it close around her body.

"Oyasumi," The remaining person in the cozy museum called, a man dressed in dark blue trousers, shirt and jacket. A small tag, reading _'SECURITY'_ labelled across one side of his chest. A thin goatee wrapped around his upper lip, hooking up across his chin. The door closed behind the woman, and the security guard approached from the inside, ensuring the locks were securely in place.

Now alone, the security guard slowly walked back from the door, the faint buzzing of the overhead lights keeping the small building from being cast in total silence. He passed several items and artefacts, each of which easily took the interest of several hundred tourists a week. _Ōdachi_ and _Uchigatana_ hung in glass display cases, a number of them sheathed with one or two in full display, the blade catching the dim lights of the building near-flawlessly.

He rounded one corner, entering a different room, each corner was fitted with a full set of samurai armour, from various time periods. He just passed a set of _Ō-yoroi_ armour when something caught his attention. The sound of glass tapping, like someone was knocking on one of the nearby windows.

The man paused briefly, glancing over his shoulder briefly, it sounded as though the tapping was coming from one of the windows he just passed... His shoes squealed against the floor as he turned, and slowly approached the window. "Hello?" He questioned, in very heavily-accented English. "We are closed. You will have to come back tomorrow." He continued to draw closer to the window, and the tapping continued, the same sequence, constantly repeating itself.

He had partially drawn his small baton when the tapping stopped all of a sudden, just as he reached the window. Another quick look around made sure that the noise wasn't coming from one of the other windows in the room, before he took the last few steps to peak out of the window. Probably some kids thinking they were being funny or something. But no, a quick look told him it was just a tree branch, loudly tapping against window.

The guard scoffed, rolling his eyes as he turned back to walk away. _'Those trees need to be moved,'_ He thought sourly, giving a shake of his head as he turned the corner.

He didn't even see a reflected caught by the blade. The slice across the throat was the first, and last, sign of its presence. The shock initially kept him silence, too stunned to make a sound as blood flowed freely from the thin slice. As his hands found themselves trying to grab the blood-soaked throat, the first gargled attempt of speaking forced its way out, as he staggered forward a few steps. Blood flowed down his fingers, dripping onto the floor as he walked, some smearing the bottom of his boot, others remaining as splats on the wood.

As he collapsed to his knees, still attempting to stop the blood flow, a shadowy figure came forward; as if physically tearing itself from the wall. Sickly pale skin soon came into focus, with toxic-green tipped locks of hair flowed down her head. A wicked smirk seemed to match that eerie glint in her eye.

"Human curiosity will be their downfall…" Batibat commented aloud, carefully twirling a thin dagger around her fingers, the edge of which was lined with a thin layer of blood. As more and more blood poured from the guard's throat and onto the floor, the she-Demon was able to maneuverer in front of the gagging human, and crouched down just beyond his blood pool. One of her fingers found his chin, and forced him to raise his head, opening his wound further, allowing even more blood to cascade onto the floor.

"Perhaps one day your kind will.. evolve beyond impulses," Batibat commented, her smirk twitching a bit more as the life started to visibly fade from his eyes. Almost mockingly, she blew a kiss as the final signs of life ebbed from his eyes, and his body fell limp, falling free of Batibat's finger hold, lying in his own pool of blood. She gave a faint eye roll, and rose, smoothing out the robes around her slender legs. Her acid-green eyes drifted around the room she found herself in, and it wasn't long before a scoff escaped her.

"These Humans.. they hoard these artifacts of their petty squabbles. These are no signs of victory.. they're signs of failures," Batibat said to herself, walking along one of the corridors, pausing briefly at a rack of strangely curved swords. She reached forward, her hand passing flawlessly through the supposedly protective glass, and carefully grabbed one sword handle. The supports holding the blade up gave way with a swift jerk free, and clattered at the bottom, and it wasn't long before the blade itself followed, breaking loose of the handle in Batibat's hand.

"Pathetic.. can't even kill another Human with a weapon of such poor quality," She scoffed, almost insulted as she threw the handle away, letting it join the rest of its weapon. She continued onward, one hand outstretched. "Where is it… Where is the Pillar?"

"Surely it could not be here.. buried beneath a rancid human civilization. Such an insult to the Master," She whispered to herself, her hand moving from side to side constantly, searching. "Something is here though.. something.. drenched in the Masters' power," She said to herself, her tone slightly lower, as she came to a short stop, turning a corner and finding the source pulling that little bit stronger.

"What is here…?" She questioned, stepping past several other artifacts. She only came to a stop when her outstretched hand made contact with something, opening her eyes found herself standing before a steel door, several locks visible and possibly even more hidden on the other side. Her eyes looked upward, finding a red sign overhead.

'警告  
立入禁止区域'

' _WARNING'  
'Restricted Area'_

"Well now.. perhaps these humans have something of interest hidden among these worthless trinkets," Batibat whispered, as her hand opened up and pressed against the cold steel. But compared to the ice-cold temperature of Batibat's skin, it felt almost warm to the she-Demon. She 'breathed' out, and fingers clenched tightly, digging into the steel like it were butter. With effortless strength, she pushed against the door, its hinges groaned and warped before giving, pinging off and out of sight. The door fell back, landing on the floor with a heavy _'clunk'_.

She stepped through the now-unblocked threshold of the restricted room, and immediately became aware of a low, whining alarm right in her ear. She looked across, and saw a small alarm flashing in the top corner of the room. Batibat swiftly saw the end of the alarm, a dagger embedded into the device, making it spark momentarily before cutting out entirely. That taken care of, she turned her eyes back to the contents of the room, and 'inhaled' deeply. The strength struck her with such force she nearly had to take a step back.

"Oh, this is _definitely_ of great interest now..." She said to herself, one arm raised across, almost defensively so, as she carefully stepped further into the room. The dark essence radiating from the room was of such great strength, she _had_ to investigate further. The closer she got to the source, the stronger the pull felt, like more ropes of darkness wrapped around her arm, drawing it in the right direction. "What artifact of the Master could these vermin possibl-" she cut herself off when she felt something cool and smooth.

Glass.

Her eyes opened once again, and this time, they widened a fraction. But they quickly returned to normal, the usual slit pupils had grown significantly, almost to the point of becoming circular.

"Well now…what are you doing here, Masutā?"

For the most part, the armour that sat behind the glass case looked just as interesting as the rest of the suits that sat in the other room. The layered leather and crude metal plates that made up the main torso armour and 'skirt' of the suit was one of its more stand out features. The metal was dented and the silver chips were taken out of it, it had been through a lot, evidently. The dented and chipped look continued onto the arm armour, old leather straps holding everything together, right down to the armour that covered the back of the hand.

The helmet was perhaps the most interesting piece of the suit, while it had a typical looking helmet and facial armour, both of which were faintly highlighted with red details, the way it was damaged was of most interest. It was if, somehow, someone had struck the wearer from the side, slicing cleanly through the side of the armoured mask, and only came to a stop with a sharp dent on the bridge of the nose. The lower jaw of the mask had also been sliced, though it appeared purposely, with the string looped around to keep the sections together.

Appearance, however, meant little to Batibat, all she saw was the echoes of her Master's essence, stuck to the armour to give the armour its deathly black colour, the strength of the essence was remarkably intact. Her fingers slowly traced up to become level with the sliced mask, as her eyes fell down the length of the armour, right down to the matching leather-y trousers and boots, and came to a stop on the small plaque at the base of the glass case.

' _Great mystery shrouds this specific piece, the very shadows cling to it and act as its particular colour. Several reports have been filed with this set of armour, with the majority of people who have encountered it reporting a strange, and unexpected, sensation of dread in the presence of the armour. Reports have also tried to pinpoint the exact age of the armour, but none so far have been able to definitively say the exact time period.'_

Batibat rolled her eyes, muttering, "Primitive apes…" as she brought her gaze back to rest on the actual armour once again. She remained silent for a moment, examining the armour with great interest, before something clicked and that wicked smirk crossed her lips once again.

"Perhaps you know where the Pillar is, Masutā.. the Master would've trusted my predecessor with that, most definitely." Her hand clenched into a tight fist, and a quick jab took her right through the glass, shattering it to pieces.

* * *

"Ahh! Fuck!"

Tyler landed flat on his back, the force of the impact creating a very faint quake in the ground beneath him. He managed to pull himself into a sitting position, groaning in pain. Though it quickly shifted from pain to one of frustration after giving each of his limbs a quick shake.

Nothing broken. _Great._

He slowly rose to his feet again, seeing Savage was already back in a defensive stance, the wolf-man shirtless, wearing only his trousers. His fur hid his body well, making it look as though he wasn't a wall of muscle beneath the thick hid. His trench coat was off to one side, slung in a tree. Natalie not that far behind, deciding she'd take the time to watch.

"Let's try that again," Savage grunted, flicking his blade up from the ground and bringing it to rest on his shoulder. "And this time, remember to block."

"Yeah, yeah," Tyler responded, grinding his teeth together as he gripped both handles of the blue-stained steel, and shifted to the familiar attack stance, briefly wondering if his feet would be able to stand in any difference stance after these sharp sessions. A single droplet of sweat slowly fell down the side of his head, eyes narrowed into a hard glare as he waited for the signal…

Savage brought one foot forward, twisting the paw pads into the dirt as his muscles tensed up. His sharp lupine eyes remained open, burning a glare into anything within sight, including Tyler, staring right back at him. The teen tried to hold the glare with the wolf man, but a gust of wind went directly towards him. He tried to keep them open, but eventually had to close his eyes to stop the irritation. When he opened them again, he found Savage was no longer standing there.

Rather, the wolf was tearing towards him, as an impending streak of black fur.

But Tyler was ready, he made sure his stance was solid, and swiftly brought one end of the blade up further. The two blades chased, a small number of sparks flying from the contact. Tyler pulled back just as Savage did, and brought the lower half up to block one of Savage's low swings. He pushed the wolf man back, taking a few steps back himself and spun the blade around, briefly letting go of the handles and spinning his wrist around to adjust his hold. Now leading with the lower handle, he charged forward, accompanied with a brief shout.

Whether it was from frustration or for intimidation purposes, Savage couldn't tell.

Tyler slashed at Savage, who took steps back with ever swing. The blade cut cleanly through the air, and during one lucky swing, Savage's cheek fur. Savage snarled in irritation, taking a number of steps back and bringing a hand to the fresh cut. He brought it back, rubbing two blood-tipped finger pads together before sparring a look to the teen responsible for the cut, that glare still on his features, fingers flexing around the handles.

"Very well then…" Savage stated, tossing the sword aside. It came to rest at the base of the tree Natalie had sat herself in.

"Oh crap…" Natalie muttered, sitting up properly and pushed off of the branch.

By the time she had landed, Savage had made his move.

Tyler had somewhat expected this, and tried bringing the blade down across the wolf man; only to have the blade jerked from his grip and tossed aside. He looked from the blade to the wolf-man, his expression one of alarm when the first couple of punches came at him. Dodging from side to side, he avoided the first couple of punches, right up until the fourth or fifth punch landed, striking him square in the nose. The force of which sent him flying back, nose bent severely out of shape, and collided with another tree.

As the branches shook and leafs broke loose, Savage quickly advanced on the fallen teen. He was brought to an abrupt stop, when Natalie suddenly dashed between him and Tyler in a blur of white, and shoved open palms against the furry chest. The push sent Savage back a single step before regaining his footing, sending his own glare at the female. He even let a small snarl break through at the interference.

"That's enough," Natalie stated, pointing a finger at Savage to go with her glare.

His chest rising and falling slowly, Savage held Natalie's glare for a moment before his snarl twisted into a short smirk crossed his muzzle. He took a few steps back, the smirk withstanding as he finally turned around and approaching his blade. "More than a lucky strike, drawing blood is definitely a step in the right direction," He commented, picking small specks of dirt from the otherwise flawless steel. "But it seems you will need work on your hand-to-hand combat."

Natalie had retreated and gone to held Tyler to his feet, while he held his heavily bleeding nose and groaned lowly. He tried bringing his hand away, only to quickly bring it back into place when a fountain of blood came rushing out. "That's definitely gonna need fixing," Natalie commented, wincing slightly when she got a good look at how bent out of shape his nose look. "I'm gonna take him to have MUTT look him over."

"Good. That will be training over for the day. You two are free to do as you wish," Savage replied, reaching into the tree and retrieved his trench coat, slipping it on as Natalie brought Tyler fully onto his feet. She pulled his arm across her shoulders, and helped him away. Savage spared one last look over his shoulder, rubbing the back of his hand against the still-bleeding cut.

"God.. that motherfucker can punch," Tyler groaned, carefully feeling around the thick padding plastered across the bridge of his nose. He winced at the waves of irritating pain that rippled from his touch.

Natalie had been watching from the side, and had moved in to have a look as MUTT stepped back to clean his blood-soaked appendages and instruments. She gave a long, low whistle at the sight. "Damn.. but not the worst I've seen, you'll be glad to hear. Still gotta be Isaac and his burns."

Cocking an eyebrow, Tyler shook his head as he slowly brought his body around and brought his feet back onto solid ground. _"The_ Instinct _should start to take effect soon, so any lingering pain should be erased within the next few hours,"_ MUTT informed, turning back around and placed the newly-cleaned syringe back with the others, perfectly in line with the others. _"Though I highly suggest you two stay close to one another for time being; the concentration required, this relatively early compared to the others, may result in drowsiness, among other symptoms."_

"Wow, wow, wow. What do you mean by 'other symptoms'?" Tyler questioned, a brief spell of panic playing across his eyes.

" _Nothing deadly, I assure you. This concentrated amount is not enough to be of lethal risk; it will be likely be symptoms such as excessive hunger, possible mental hallucinations. Nothing too serious."_

"Yeah.. because that sounds a hell of a lot better than anything I was thinking," Tyler replied, sarcasm heavy in his tone. Natalie rolled her eyes, smirking slightly as she stepped away from Tyler, letting him walk a few steps to allow himself to make sure he was still walking right.

"C'mon. We've got the city to ourselves, and there's a chance you're gonna have the appetite of an actual wolf, you're probably going to want to be somewhere where's there's food," Natalie said, gesturing for Tyler to follow her as she headed out through one of the corridors. Tyler looked back at MUTT, who gestured for Tyler to follow, before taking off after the girl.

As they left, Savage entered the main section, weapon-free and in his trench-coat.

" _Just because I have free access to the medical supplies, doesn't mean you can be more aggressive with the teenagers,"_ MUTT scowled, tapping a few keys into the small computer he was working at.

Savage gave a shrug, the blood having dried into his fur with the cut having bleed itself out. "I've suffered worse and came out fine."

" _They're human, Savage. I have stated this multiple times. They are more.. delicate."_

* * *

The moment they exited the Den, and re-entered the sunlight-drenched outdoors, Natalie turned back to Tyler, still walking backwards, and said, "Reckon you can keep up?"

"Pretty sure I can," Tyler responded, rising a smirk from the White Omega.

"Well then…" She said, coming to a brief stop as she looked over her shoulder. "You're gonna want to make sure you live up to that." Not a second later, she took off as a blur of white, the air cracking around her rapid departure like a white, shaking the trees and ground around her. The quakes nearly knocked Tyler over, but he maintained his balance and was only pushed back a few steps.

"Oh, that's how you're gonna play it, huh?" Tyler questioned, yet had a smirk on his face as he briefly moved into a pre-run stance. He tensed up for a moment, and quickly gave chase in his own blur of dark blue. Fresh shockwaves were sent through the ground, shaking a larger number of trees in the area.

The streaks of white and blue tore through the circle of countryside, and into the central city, tearing up the streets and flying past abandoned cars, which became more common place as they moved from the outskirts and through the industrial district, passing through that area in mere seconds. All the while, the blue streak was getting closer and closer to the trail left behind by the leading white streak. Sharp turns left and right, as if one was trying to lose the other through the streets.

Tyler saw the distance between him and the tail of Natalie's streak steadily shrink, turning sharply around street corners, and one time, he had to kick off of a car after failing to make a last second turn. He heard the scrapping of metal-against-concrete as the car was flipped at the force behind his kick, but it quickly, and literally, was pushed far behind him as he tried closing the remaining distance. He got closer and closer, beginning to actually see Natalie rather than the white trail she left behind.. almost there…

And…

It was gone.

It just stopped, momentarily startling Tyler; enough so that he almost lost his footing and dropped out of the blue blur. He skipped a few steps, nearly tripping up multiple times as he tried to stop. He finally did so, shoes sliding along the street and kicking up small clouds in the aftermath, surrounding him as he looked around. "Nat?" He called along the empty streets, looking all around.

"Over here!"

He turned to her voice, finding her back to him and disappearing into one of the many abandoned stores; from the looks of it, even the others hadn't got into it yet. If the lack of smashed windows was had any meaning. Tyler wouldn't have put it past them to sneak through the back, especially the likes of Matt…

He gave a small shake of his head, strangely surprised that was the first name that came to mind. Trying to keep the thought from lingering, he casually jogged across the rest of the street and followed Natalie into the store. From the amount of dust that had gathered on the display stands and the signs, this definitely hadn't been touched since the owners abandoned the place. A somewhat sickly smell came from some unknown area, hitting Tyler weakly in the face; it was still enough to make him cough at the foul stench, however.

"The power's still on at this place?" He asked aloud, waving his hand to try and throw the bad smell away from him.

"Eh, kinda." Tyler turned to see Natalie leaning against the counter, an open bag of chips in hand. As she ate, she explained, "MUTT managed to jerry-rig the electrics on this place, so the place could stink a hell of a lot worse. Still, on the plus side, help yourself. It's not like anyone's gonna stop you."

Tyler spared a brief look around the rest of the store after Natalie spoke, giving a final glance up to the security camera lodged in the nearest corner of the store. But after a while, and seeing that the camera seemed inactive, he gave a simple shrug and began rummaging through the various treats. Natalie let another smirk cross her face, eating another chip. "Always used to come here, after classes," Natalie explained, as Tyler vanished behind one of the columns and cleared one of the items.

"Yeah? That before or after you had this fucking thing drilled into your wrist?" Tyler questioned, raising his free, Howler-latched wrist up while the other maintained a hold on the numerous items.

"A time before wearing this thing?" Natalie repeated, bringing her own Howler into view, turning it partially to catch the store's light just right. "That's becoming harder and harder to imagine these days. But yeah.. this was all before the Howlers."

"Do you get sounding like some kind of war veteran from Savage? Or do you get that sort of mentality after going through all the shit you lot have done on the news?" Tyler asked, appearing down the opposite end of the isle he had entered, an armful of food stuffs now with him. In his other hand, a single bottle of Cola, the lid already taken off.

Natalie gave a shrug, "Bit of both, probably," as she pushed away from the counter and headed back out of the store, Tyler following after her, somehow managing to keep all the stuff balanced as they crossed the street. They reached the other sidewalk and, after sparing a glance up, Tyler saw they were entering some kind of restaurant. Definitely an independent place, didn't have any recognizable branding, as they easily entered through one of the smashed up glass panels.

Tyler lifted a questionable glance to the back of Natalie's head at their unconventional entry. She seemed to sense it, and replied accordingly, "That wasn't any of us, some asshole kids decided they wanted to come into the city after they evacuated the place. Let's just say, Tanya made sure to tell them they weren't welcome here."

"…OK, that's just fucked up," Tyler said flatly, coming to a dead stop in the restaurant as Natalie stopped a few steps ahead of him and turned back to face him. "This place was their home, probably for their entire lives. Then you lot get some sort of advantage and are like 'nope, this is our house now. Fuck off'? You don't think that's messed up?"

She seemed ready to respond immediately, but held herself back and inhaled slowly. It turned into a low exhale, as she responded, "Look... I know, I know that what I said was pretty messed up. But c'mon, you look at this situation from our perspective. All the bad shit we've done, all the lives we've ruined.. not to mention the.. worse things that've happened…"

Tyler had a feeling she knew what she meant by _that_.

"Add all those things together.. do you realize how fucked up, in the head, that'd make us? Savage told us that if we let those things get to us, we wouldn't last as long."

"So this is how you cope with this heavy stuff? Trying not to think of them as people whose lives you've ruined?" Tyler questioned, giving her an even more questionable look.

She offered a weak smile, "Call it being influenced by Isaac, his British-ness seems to be rubbing off on all of us."

Natalie quickly took one of the many free seats, clearing one of the tables of dust as she settled herself. Seemingly satisfied for now, Tyler took a seat opposite her, his armful of food tumbling over and spread out over the entire table. He took a swig of his drink as he sat down, and tore open a packet of cookies while Natalie helped herself to some of his treasures.

The two sat in relative silence for a while, before Tyler spoke again. "Speaking of Isaac, has he got a problem with me or something?"

"What do you mean?" Natalie questioned, pausing mid-bite.

"Since I got involved with your merry little crusade, and especially since that first shit-show I got involved in, he just seemed.. off," Tyler admitted. "I know I don't know him as well as you lot do, but he's just, I don't know, giving off these weird vibes."

"Have you asked him directly if anything was wrong?" asked Natalie, one eyebrow slightly raised.

Tyler snorted, wincing briefly at the irritation this caused. "He barely talks to me as is. Only time he talks is when we're fighting, and that's usually just barking orders or shit like that."

"That supposed to be some sort of pun?" Natalie smirked, resulting in an eye roll from Tyler.

"Funny, but no," He replied flatly. "But I don't know, does he just.. hate me, for what happened with Matt or is he…?"

Natalie brought her chin to rest on one hand, asking, "Is he what?"

"You know…" Tyler prompted, rolling his hand slowly, as if attempting to help Natalie get the idea.

It seemed to succeed, but judging by how Natalie's other hand came down forcefully on the table, it wasn't the suggestion she wanted to hear. "Sorry, but don't even go there," She replied sharply. "Isaac's a lot of things, but he's not a racist."

"I wasn't accusing him of being one!" Tyler replied quickly, one hand raised defensively. "Besides, he doesn't strike me as one. He's actually a decent guy."

"A decent guy, yeah.. he's just got a lot going through his head right now."

"What d'you mean? Oh.. is it to do with Matt?"

"I reckon it does," Natalie explained, arms folding back as she leaned against the chair. "'Course, he'd never admit it. But he's definitely got more going on, mentally, than he's letting on. He's not going anything against you; I think it's got something to do with Matt."

Tyler leaned forward slightly, arms crossed on the table. "You've said how he was there when Matt was killed. You don't suppose…?"

"That he blames himself for what happened to Matt?" Natalie finished off, complete with a slight nod. "Best bet. Isaac's definitely that type of person."

"I mean, I don't see why he should blame himself, from what you lot told me, it was totally out of his control. You weren't expecting those bullets to actually get through the suits," Tyler reasoned.

Natalie gave a small shake of her head, sighing gently. "But that isn't what Isaac's like; even without that 'Alpha responsibility', I've known him long enough to know he's the type of person who'll take the weight of a situation alone. And the fact he.. he held Matt as he died, before we brought 'em back to the Den."

Tyler slowly nodded, fingers tapping the table rhythmically. "You make it sound like he hasn't let go just yet."

"To be honest? I don't think he ever will; at least not entirely," Natalie replied, looking aside briefly. "I mean, imagine it from his perspective.. after what you saw, and what you thought, would you honestly be the same? And even after you took over the Blue Howler, he still probably sees Matt in there…"

An awkward silence soon filled the vacant void of speaking, as the pair tried to figure out where to go from there. Natalie finally broke it once again, tapping both sets of fingertips against the table. "Well, that went kinda dark… I'm just gonna get something to drink," She said as she quickly got up, and disappeared from Tyler's sight after walking through one of the doors to, what he assumed was, the kitchen.

Tyler returned his gaze to the mostly untouched mountain of food packets; it needed eating at _some_ point, he reasoned as he grabbed one of the new packets. As he tore the sweets open, he picked up footsteps from the counter; assuming it was Natalie, he didn't turn around. But as the footsteps continued, Tyler slowly set the packet on the table.

That was _way_ too many steps to be where Natalie had disappeared through, and she wouldn't walk all the way to the other side of the counter. He would've turned around to see what it was about. And that was when the voice came.

"She's right, you know. Isaac does blame himself for what happened."

Tyler's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates, and his skin grew suddenly cold. He slowly twisted around in the chair, and shot up when he caught sight of the source. His breathing started to grow heavy, and he felt as though his heart was going to burst out of his chest. The glass Cola bottle slipped from his sweaty grip, and shattered onto the ground, scattering the glass everywhere.

The shard sliding across the floor, and came to a stop beside a heavy boot. It caught the reflection of the wearer, and although he was far paler than Tyler ever remembered, and his eyes seemed sunken, it was still definitely him. A small smirk crossed his features.

"Hello Tyler."

* * *

"Matt!"

Isaac shot awake, jerking up.. and immediately slammed his head on the ceiling of his coffin room. He slumped back down, his head now throbbing in pain and teeth grit together, less his shout of pain wake anyone up. Not that him shouting out was in anyway quiet…

Rubbing his forehead, he leaned up again, this time much more mindful of the ceiling. The longer he spent time in these 'capsule' hotels, the harder Isaac found it to understand why they existed, there was barely any room! He gave a slight kick, triggering the small door covering the end of his 'room' to fold upwards, and slowly shimmied himself out of his little tomb. He carefully rose to his feet, looking down the dimly lit corridor. Luckily, no-one seemed to have been awoken by his previous shout, allowing him to sneak down the corridor and disappear down a corridor.

Unaware that the door above his 'room' slowly opened, and Kyle's head peeking out just before Isaac turned out of sight.

Mindful of how much noise he made, Isaac eventually found himself where he wanted to be, an empty communal room, filled with chairs. He exhaled slowly, walking along the rows of seats before coming to rest in one. He tried relaxing in the chair, looking out of the large window he sat opposite, it must have rained earlier, judging by the condition outside the window. The bright neon-lights of some of the lower buildings flashed occasionally, filling the room with a bright orange glow.

The glow washed over part of Isaac's face, highlighting the blank expression dominating his features, yet he just stared blankly through the window. He watched a few droplets start their journey from the top of the window to the bottom. And judging by how hot he was, he'd make a bet there were sweat droplets on his forehead doing the exact same thing. He exhaled again, this one much longer than the last, as he leaned forward, bringing his hands up to cover his face, dragging them down, collecting all the sweat from his brow as the palms came to support his chin.

"Can't sleep?"

Isaac turned at the voice, visibly tensing up before relaxing when he saw Kyle standing in the doorway, one shoulder resting against the frame. "Yeah," He sighed, leaning back into the chair. "Didn't wake you, did I?"

"Oh yeah, you did," Kyle answered, entering the room fully and took one of the seats, giving a few seats gap between himself and Isaac. He saw Isaac's head give a slight shake after he spoke, as the two fell into silence as they watched the neon lights outside. "The same nightmare?" Kyle eventually asked, turning to look across at the other guy.

But Isaac continued to look ahead, both hands carefully supporting his chin as he stared blankly out of the window. "Sorry," Kyle added quickly, scratching the back of his neck slightly.

"It that obvious now?" Isaac questioned, still looking ahead.

Kyle's hand fell back down to the armrest, his expression solemn as he looked across at Isaac. At least he was admitting to it now, that was a start. "How much sleep do you think you've lost because of it?"

"Doesn't matter how much sleep I lose. The point is, I wouldn't have had to go through this if I had just-"

"Isaac," Kyle butted in, "Just stop. We've been through this enough already. You can't keep blaming yourself for what happened; neither of you could have properly prepared for the shit that happened."

"I could have _moved,"_ Isaac replied sharply, his hands visibly tensing up beneath his jaw. "If I hadn't been just a fucking idiot, maybe Matt would've-"

"Stop with the 'would have's and 'could have been's. It's the shit like that that's gonna end up messing you up in the head," Kyle argued, rubbing his forehead in irritation. Sometimes he could perfectly understand what certain people were going through, but this time, Isaac was beginning to get too much for him. He knew something like that wasn't exactly easy to forgive yourself for, but this was getting to the point of further issues becoming apparent from this.

It looked as though Isaac wanted to respond, but he couldn't find the right words, he kept opening his mouth, giving it a few seconds, before closing it again, repeating this cycle a couple of times, until he gave up entirely and just sat in silence.

"I always wanted to visit Japan," Kyle said after another period of silence, getting up from his seat and walked up to the massive window. He leaned on the wall beside it, peering down into the night life. "All the different things to try, the entirely different atmosphere to the States.. shit, if things turned out differently, probably would've come here at some point."

Isaac raised his head as Tyler spoke, giving small nods even though Tyler's back was to him. "Guess someone decided that they wanted you to have the chance," He said softly.

"If that's the case, I'm fully expecting some sort of Demon shit to go down here. Y'know, balance out everything," Kyle replied with a chuckle, turning back to look at Isaac, the second he did so, Isaac's head turned down once again. "I'm kidding, obviously."

"Someday that mouth of yours is gonna get you in the shitter," Isaac replied dryly, giving a faint shake of his head.

"You're talking like it's never happened before," Kyle joked with a grin, walking back over to take one of the chairs, this time opposite Isaac. Before silence could take over the pair of them for a third time, Kyle spoke again, "Look, we're gonna be up early later, so it's probably a good idea to get back to sleep."

But Isaac shook his head. "Nah.. not gonna be able to sleep for a while. I'll just.. sit here, see what happens."

Kyle sighed softly, shaking his head as he slowly got back up to his feet. "Well, at least do something. Go for a run or something. Fresh air will probably do you good."

"Fresh air in Japan? Fat chance of that," Isaac commented dryly, grinning blankly.

"Eh, probably right. But still, you've gotta do something. Even if _you_ don't, that hunk of crystal on your wrist will make ya," Kyle advised, gesturing to his own wrist as he headed for the exit.

 _This_ caught Isaac's attention, lifting his gaze from the ground to Kyle, before bringing it back to his own wrist. Starring right into the eye of the Howler, the bright red glimmering back at him. The orange neon flashed again, this time dancing across the Howler, Isaac almost taken aback by how the neon seemed to bring new life to the Howler's glow. By the time he brought his eyes away from the Howler, he found Kyle had left, leaving him alone in the room. And whatever feeling Kyle had whenever the silence lasted too long, it seemed to rub off on Isaac, it brought him onto his feet, and after a quick glance over his shoulder into the empty room, turned to look back down the corridor.

He inhaled slowly, and let out a final sigh, closing his eyes for a moment, as if internally debating his next action. Whatever his options, he chose the one that, upon opening his eyes again, made his tear down the hallway, blurring into a streak of red through the silent halls.

He tore his way out of the corridor and covered the flights of stairs in a blink of an eye; if anyone was awoken by the sound of wind rushing past them, all they would've caught was the faint tail-end of a red streak. He would've gone the full way and go through the door, which was thankfully opened by someone entering the hotel, but he was quickly reminded that he was still had no shoes. He quickly turned back, still in the faint red blur, and swiftly recovered his shoes, putting them on in double quick time. Without skipping a beat, he tore out of the hotel and into the bustling night-life of Japan.

All of this being accomplished in mere seconds.

The man that had served the three of them was still at the counter, and looked up when another man entering the build exclaimed in surprise. He looked towards the door, only seeing the aftermath of what appeared to be a massive force of wind blowing through the door, startling the man entering.

A small smirk pulled at the corner of his lips, his eyes becoming a striking blue in the process.

* * *

"He is leaving the building."

The massive screen at the centre paused, giving a high-resolution picture of the front of the hotel. One man was halfway through the door, looking back onto the streets, shock plastered across his face. And though it was very faint, towards the right edge, there was a red tinge that soaked all that it passed in a crimson tint.

"Should we continue to track him?" One person said, lifting their gaze from their personal computer, a number of maps opened up in different tabs, each highlighting different parts.

The man in the black suit, sitting at his own computer, paused briefly and answered. "Continue to do so, it will be fruitless to send out them out to capture them. The less of a potential threat to the public, the better."

He got a nod in return, and all sets of eyes returned to monitors, keys pressed regularly as information was passed to and fro. Behind the man in black, another person entered the room, hands in trouser pockets. "Any idea where he's going?" E asked, arms folding on top of the chair beside the suited man. A couple of people in the room briefly glanced at the entrance of the Agent, quickly returning to their work as the man in charge turned his attention to E.

"Our observers tracked them to a hotel, and reported in that one was seen leaving. From the images recorded, we believe it to be the Red Ranger. Apart from that, we don't have any more information," The man answered stiffly.

E gave a curt nod in return, before lifting his gaze to the large screens overlooking the group of investigators. "I take it the other two are still in the hotel? Pretty sure you've got their files. Why don't you just send in a group to.. 'collect' them?"

Again, the man in the suit gave a distasteful side glance across at E. "There are currently thirty-four civilians in the hotel along with your wanted fugitives, the risk is too great for unnecessary civilian deaths. If your information regarding these fugitives is correct, then we shall take steps accordingly."

"…You do realize what these guys can do, right? You've seen the news and my reports, these guys don't fuck around," E responded flatly, gesturing to the computer screens.

"Yes, and provoking them will only result in these reports coming to life," The man replied, his tone just as flat, as he tapped a few keys. He turned to face E entirely, adding, "Perhaps this is something you Americans can learn when dealing with your problems, in _your_ country."

"I'm not American, bud," E sharply responded, pointing at the suited man accusingly. "At least not entirely."

The man didn't respond, as a notification had appeared on his screen. At the same time, one of the other investigators informed him, "He's come to a stop, we've lost sight of him on top of one of the buildings."

* * *

From his perspective atop the building, Isaac got an even better view than the one from the window. The neon lights unobscured by glass, seeming that much brighter because of it. The sounds of tourists enjoying a late night, and letting everyone in the immediate area know it, was even louder than before, almost to the point of irritation, if Isaac hadn't tried focusing on something else.

He took a seat, feet hanging over the edge of the building, as he got another look at the darkness-wrapped skyline. Arms braced just behind him, he tried relaxing again and allowed his eyes to close as a light wind blew around him, catching parts of his looser jacket and hood. Slowly, the noises down below started to fade as he focused on memories. His drifting mind, combined with his senses picking up in sensitivity with his eyes closed, allowed him to pick up subtler sounds and smells.

Sounded like some sort of break-in, not too far away. Judging by the lack of a sudden shriek, they weren't caught. Not yet, anyway.

A couple of streets over, it sounded as though something had spooked a dog. The barks seemed to rise the owner, clearly irritated as they tried to shut their dog up. A faint smirk crossed Isaac's face when the barks only grew louder and more frequent, resulting in a back-and-forth argument between a pair of quickly agitating parties. Various other noises overlapped one another, to the point where Isaac couldn't be bothered to pick out anything specific from the mess and left it as such.

He inhaled the cold air, thankful for the lack of fumes in the area he had found. But he still couldn't relax.

"Dammit…" He said under his breath, sitting up straight again and leaned over the edge slightly, the building wasn't that tall, though others would probably say otherwise. He took a deep breath in through his nose, taking in the various smells that seemed to be stuck to his clothes ever since he entered Japan. Numerous new food smells, freshly made that day, merging together with the countless unique scents of every single local. They merged with the somewhat familiar scents of the Western tourists. Oddly, they had an underlying familiar base sent, very earthy.

Then there was the wretched, back-of-the-throat stabbing sensation of layers upon layers of toxins in the atmosphere. _'Anyone who thinks air pollution isn't real or climate change is bullshit, they're the ones breathing the crap in,'_ Isaac thought to himself, bringing his forearm up to momentarily block his nose to try and cut off the chemicals forcing their way up his nose.

It was at this point that he noticed his Howler's crystal pulsing slowly. He brought his other hand up to press one of the Howler's buttons, but in doing so, he got another whiff of the infected air. Only this time, something familiar cut through the many layers of toxic air. But it just that much worse, almost causing Isaac to gag if he hadn't caught himself.

He knew that smell…

"Had to be _fucking_ her, didn't it?" He asked himself bitterly, his hand slowly clenching into a fist as he quickly got to his feet. He took another deep inhale, the bad taste rolling around his mouth, as he looked around, just had to narrow down where she'd be…

Bingo.

He jumped off the edge of the building, dropping through the air onto the lower roof of the next building. He rolled upon landing, letting the momentum carry him forward as he got back to his feet and began running. Small clouds of dust kicked up with every pounding step as he jumped across buildings, leaping into the air whenever a street cut through the concrete canyon. With every step and every leap, Isaac felt the smell become stronger and stronger. It seemed to be clogged up in his nose right now, and it seemed to become even more toxic the greater amount he sniffed up.

One particular jump landed him right in the middle of an empty, narrow alley, cratering the ground and forcing a crack to partially run up a nearby wall. Without skipping a beat, Isaac took off down the alley, tearing into a red streak as he entered and followed the road. Right to the source of the wretched smell…

* * *

"Almost there…"

Batibat repeated to herself under her breath, one hand outstretched and open, while the other remained at her side. It had screwed up into a tight fist not too long ago, and was starting to faintly shake.

From her open palm, a swirling column of black-and-green mist came forth, traveling slowly across the space between Batibat and the suit of Samurai armour before her. Said armour was already encased with a thin layer of black fog, the sickly green accenting colour giving off an uneasy vibe as it collected under the mask, as though it was forming the eyes beneath. The dark magic pushed into the chest armour had started to spill out into, what appeared to be, a pre-determined shape, filling out the arms and stretching down to fill out the leg armour and boots.

A loud gasp of relief came when Batibat finally stopped pumping out energy, taking a few staggering steps back. The last of the energy passed through the armour, finishing with a definite _clunk,_ like a lock being turned. The she-Demon watched in anticipation, her eyes darting to different parts of the suit, waiting for some sign that she hadn't wasted that much energy.

As the swirling died down, however, she found herself waiting more and more, and this only caused her anticipation and aggravation to steadily build. She stepped closer again, one hand brought up again to touch the armour.

Her wrist was forcefully stopped, another hand latching onto it.

She shouted out at the bone-crunching grip, and frantically tried to free herself; only accomplishing this when the hand threw her back, slamming her right into one of the sword racks. Several of the blades came loose and clattered onto the floor, both behind and beside the slumped Batibat.

While she recovered, the hand that had thrown her slowly pulled itself back, gripping the edge of the display case the rest of the suit was contained in. The other leathery hand came forward, latching onto the other edge of the display case, the remaining panels of glass starting to spider-web. The metal frame quickly gave out as the suit pulled itself out, glass shattering entirely with the destruction of the case. The destroyed metal was thrown aside, as the suit now stood to its full height, pushing the 7ft mark.

Batibat looked up at the armoured colossal, quickly rising to her own feet; only managing to come up to the suit's upper chest armour. As her eyes rose, the suit's eyes slowly lowered, a faint green glow burning from beneath the sliced eyeholes of the mask. The permanent scowl moulded onto the mask seemed all the more threatening with the toxic green traces burning out of the eye holes, tracing the slice through one of them.

"Masutā…" Batibat started, only to find herself abruptly cut off when one of the hands suddenly grabbed her throat, bringing her up off of her feet by a solid foot. She gasped out frantically, clawing at the armoured glove wrapped around her pale throat. She tried kicking and punching, but nothing seemed to be effective against the stoic, armoured suit.

It brought Batibat closer to the face guard, one pair of toxic green eyes looking into another. At this close proximity, she picked up on the faintest traces of ragged breaths from beneath the helmet.

" _ **Who…are you, to call my by name?"**_ a low, raspy voice questioned, as the armoured fingers tightening around Batibat's neck, bringing even more desperate gasps out.

"Bat*gasp*bat. H...Ri..Right…Hand of*gasp*the Master," the she-Demon gasped, still desperately clawing at the armour, throwing a punch to the upper arm. But it got her nowhere, as before.

The grip remained iron-like around her throat for what seemed like eternity, before loosening a fraction. Still, it was enough for Batibat to gasp out loudly and breathe just a little easier.

" _ **The Master…lives?"**_ Masutā queried, his smoky green eyes visibly narrowing a fraction as he brought Batibat closer to his scarred helmet. His eyes narrowed further, but not in question; rather in suspicion. _**"You are the Master's Right Hand? Then who…is the Left?"**_

A bewildered look crossed Batibat's face through her struggles. "I…I never-"

" _ **Do not…toy with me, she-Demon,"**_ Masutā stated, pulling her back a fraction. Batibat finally felt the tip of her toes dragging against the ground, but couldn't get enough of a grip to stable herself. _**"Only the Master can forge His Hands, to do His bidding. I was the first to be granted the two titles, of Warlord and Hand; just as you have, I suspect. Yet there is no absence of a Hand, as I sense. So tell me…who is the Left?"**_

Her breathing had calmed slightly as Masutā spoke, yet the slight twitches in her expression gave away her thoughts; the angered twitch at the corner of her lips, her jaw visibly tensing and her eyes took on a partially hardened edge. She grit her teeth for a moment, as she finally spoke. "Fear. Fear _was_ the Left Hand, but he was foolishly captured by the Humans. Now Death has been made the Left Hand."

No response came initially, as Masutā looked partially to one side to think. He quickly turned back to glare once again at Batibat, leaning in close. _**"And is Fear…dead?"**_

"Not that I'm aware," Batibat responded, grinding her teeth as she felt the fingers slowly tightened once again around her neck.

The green glow of his eyes grew darker, more excessive smoke billowing from the eyeholes. _**"Then the sacred rule has been broken,"**_ he stated, finally letting go of Batibat entirely; throwing her against the nearest wall, severely splintering the decorative design. As she recovered, the titan of a Demon looked around the restricted room, coming to a stop when he spotted a weapons rack across from him. He stepped towards the displayed weapons, igniting the obvious glare focused on the back of his helmet.

"The Master was the one to bring Death to the rank of Hand, and I suspect he knew Fear was still ali-"

" _ **Do not DARE defile the Master's word!"**_ Masutā exclaimed, turning around sharply, the tip of a sword pointed directly at Batibat's eye. He slammed the sword down, losing the faint greenish glow it gave off the moment he let go. _**"Perhaps a time has come that the Master sees it fit to…change His rules. Perhaps He now sees you and Fear as unfit to stand alongside Him alone."**_

"I was not sent to restore you by the Master's side," Batibat interrupted sharply, fingers flexing around the handle of a dagger concealed up her sleeve. Half-tempted to cut her losses and stab the Warlord right there and then, she held back for now as she continued, "I…require your…assistance." The pauses only exaggerating the distaste in her words.

Masutā paused briefly, commenting, _**"Then it is you who further breaks the rules. What could a Hand of Horror require so desperately, they dare break the Rule of the Hand further?"**_

Batibat stepped forward, becoming level with the towering Hand and looked up at him with a fiery glare, as she spoke. "The _Great Darkness_ has been re-initiated, and I need to know where the Pillar is."

* * *

"Something happen? I hear a glass smash," Natalie quickly appeared in the door frame once again, looking out into the restaurant. Her eyebrows cocked in confusion, seeing Tyler standing with his back to her, looking across the room. "Tyler?" She asked, taking steps around the counter and towards the statue-like teen.

He turned around sharply, and Natalie almost took a step back when she saw his look. "Jesus.. looks like you've seen a ghost," She commented, taking a cautious step closer.

Tyler's wide eyes had an alarmed look dominating them entirely, and he turned back around, to how Natalie had found him, then back to face Natalie again. His expression only grew more and more distressed. "Y... You're not seeing what I'm seeing?"

"No…listen, try to calm down," Natalie pressed, taking small steps closer around the table and eventually managing to rest a hand across his shoulder. "MUTT said it's likely that you'll suffer from hallucinations after that dose of _Instinct_. Just.. try and relax, OK?" she asked as she tried guiding the stiffly-moving Tyler into the nearest seat. She gave a final, slightly harder, push to finally get him sitting down, and she went to the other side of the table. "What were you seeing, anyway?"

He went to speak, but glanced up from the table to Natalie and gave a slight shake of his head, rubbing a temple. "You'd think I was mad if I told you…"

"Try me," Natalie pressed.

Tyler inhaled slowly, before he looked Natalie right in the eye and said, "I saw Matt."

"He was just.. walking in as you left, saying how everything you said about Isaac was right…" He further explained as Natalie watched him closely, her fingers idly tapping against the table.

She slowly ran one hand through her hair, saying, "Look, Tyler. It's my fault for even allow us to talk that much about it after that dose of drugs. It was bound to mess with your mind, seeing stuff like that. Please.. try not to think about it, OK? They'll lose the effects sooner or later."

He seemed doubtful of her suggestion, his eyes darting all around frantically, his arms wrapped around his stomach. Natalie sighed slightly, head falling slightly as she tried relaxing.

And at that point, a small _bang_ came from the kitchen.

"Shit! Forgot I left stuff on in there!" Natalie exclaimed, quickly rushing around the counter and back into the kitchen. Her entry was shortly followed by more metal clattering in the distance. Leaving Tyler by himself once again.

He gave it a few seconds, before slowly looking around over his shoulder; his shoulders sagged slightly and he sighed in relief when nothing was standing there. He gave the entire room a quick once-over before slumping more against the chair. Maybe it was all in his head…maybe he really was just seeing things and-

"This seat taken?"

He jerked his head forward again, and almost jumped out of his seat at Matt standing at the opposite end of the table once again. He felt his heart-rate start picking up again with his breathing, but he kept his eyes glued to the table, refusing to look up. A moments' silence followed, interrupted when Matt spoke. "Fine then.. take it it's not," he said, Tyler only hearing the chair getting dragged out and set down again. Tyler spared a brief glance up, only to stare down at the table with even greater intensity. Why'd he have to sit like Matt as well? The chairs' back to him, and Matt facing towards him, his legs coming around the sides and arms folded atop the back.

"Hey, buddy? You just gonna stare or you actually going to talk?" Matt suddenly spoke up, snapping his fingers right in Tyler's face.

Tyler shook his head slightly at the sudden snap, eyes briefly lingering on the teen opposite him before quickly looking elsewhere. "I ain't talking to some damn hallucination…" He muttered under his breath.

"Well what do you think you're doing now?" Matt smirked, why'd it have to look so real? "Besides, I'm not some hallucination kid."

"Who the fuck you callin' a kid? We're the same damn age," Tyler replied sharply, sparing a glare up at the boy sitting across from him. "And of course you're a damn figment or some shit of my imagination; you're dead as f-"

 _SLAP!_

Tyler's head jerked to the side sharply at the contact, blinking slowly as he turned back wide eyed. Did he just.. slap him?

"That feel real enough for you?" Matt questioned, sitting back again. "Trust me, I'm not anything that mind of yours could possibly come up with."

"Did you just.. slap me?" Tyler questioned in astonishment, rubbing his struck cheek.

"Yes, I did. And the fact that the last thing Matt would do would slap someone to hit them, should be proof enough; you and I both know that. Now, you gonna listen to me or what?" Matt asked, arms folding once again.

"…Either I'm really tripping balls, or I'm gonna have to admit I'm talking to some.. _thing_ using some friend as some sort of puppet. Supposedly you know Matt, so you know better than anyone which one I'm gonna find easier to accept," Tyler said sharply, finally lifting his fiery glare up and directed it across the table. "So why don't you fuck off?"

"Wow, bit harsh. I just got back."

"Nat!" Tyler exclaimed, his sour expression quickly dissolving as he became aware of the White Warrior standing at the end of the counter. "I, uh.. didn't see you there," he added eyes briefly glancing to the seat opposite him.

"Uh-huh…" Natalie gave a nod, a sceptical look playing across her face as she walked around. "Do I even what to know what was going on, or is it along the lines of 'I don't want to know'?"

"She can't see me, you know," Matt informed, leaning more against the chair as Natalie came to stand alongside him, though unknowingly. Tyler stole a brief glare to the body in the seat, barely noticeable as his eyes returned to Natalie; he didn't expect his day to go like this, even after joining these guys…

"Umm.. yeah, let's just leave it as is. Hallucinations and shit," Tyler replied, waving a hand absentmindedly as he spoke; stealing brief glances at that smirking bastard.

"Fair enough," Natalie shrugged, not wanting the matter pressed any further. "Anyway, I thought of something to do, and it'll help you in the process. Plus it'll get Savage off your ass, so that's gotta be a positive."

"What's that then?" Tyler questioned.

* * *

Finally, it seemed, Isaac found the source of the Demon scent that had dragged him halfway across the province to find. He moved slowly, he peaked around the corner of a building he'd taken cover behind, and his eyes found what he was, hopefully, looking for. "Samurai museum, eh?" He asked himself, spying the unlit building nestled among the rest. Yet it was that building in particular that stuck out, it was _drenched_ in the demonic scent, enough to practically burn his nose off.

He pulled back around the building and brought his Howler up. "Tanya, Kyle?" He asked into the pulsing crystal. A few seconds passed before he got a response.

" _Isaac? What's up? Where are you anyway, I heard you leave a while back."_ It was Tanya.

"I needed to get out. Can you get Kyle and get here, quickly? Think I found the Demon trace that's been bringing us back here," Isaac replied, peaking around the corner a couple of times as he spoke. He was sure he heard voices, but he needed to get close to distinguish them apart.

" _We're on it,"_ She replied, comms cutting off shortly after. Isaac looked around one last time, before carefully stepping around and approached the museum, dropping into a crouch as he stopped beside one of the windows. It looked partially opened, and as he carefully reached for the side, Isaac briefly wondered what they were going to be dealing with. Just as he was about to pull on it, however, the voices started again. This time, much clearer and easier to distinguish.

"The _Great Darkness_ has been re-initiated, and I need to know where the Pillar is," Said one voice, the one he, annoyingly, recognized as Batibat. But what was she on about?

Another voice, a new one, interrupted his thoughts, this one was far rougher, and lower toned than what Isaac had heard her talk with before. Or heard anyone talk, for that matter.

" _ **The Pillar of the Eastern Reach? And you require *my* help, to find it?"**_ The other voice questioned, and finally Isaac decided to risk a peak. He looked through the window, and held his breath when he saw the two figures standing among the museum pieces. One was clearly Batibat, a look of irritation across her pale face and arms folded, looking like she was trying to burn a hole through the taller, more-armoured Demon standing with his back to her.

" _ **Perhaps the Master doesn't trust you as well as you may think,"**_ The armoured Demon added, twisting to look at the she-Demon over his shoulder, Isaac managed to catch a glimpse of sickly green around the eyes of creature. Was that some kind of mask he was wearing?

"I can take your life just as easily as I gave it back to you, Masutā," Batibat warned, her look becoming even sourer if possible. Isaac made sure to take a mental note of the other Demon's name as said titan turned around; he quickly pulled back from the window, seriously hoping he remained unnoticed.

" _ **I believe you should know better than most, not to threaten a Hand in that manner. So I recommend reframing from doing so again,"**_ Masutā 'advised', though Isaac was pretty sure that was more of a threat than anything else. He heard the shuddering footsteps of the towering Demon as he walked around the room, followed by the sound of metal scraping against wood. _**"A threat must be followed through, less your enemies see it as an empty one. Then they see.. a warrior, using hollow threats as a shield. I ensure, any threats I make, I follow through with them."**_

"La-de-da, smug bastard," Isaac muttered under his breath with an eye roll.

"I do not need a lecture. I want to know where the Pillar is," Batibat hissed, eyes narrowing as her irritation grew. "Or do I need to resurrect another Demon to assist me?"

" _ **You would be wasting valuable resources doing so, the Master trusted me alone with the protection and maintenance of the Pillar of the Eastern Region of His Reach. I, and I alone, can activate it. So I recommend you know your place in this Region,"**_ Masutā gave another one of his 'suggestions', and Isaac heard the tell-tale sound of a pristine blade being moved through the air. _**"It is clear that you still have much to learn."**_

"I know enough," Batibat hissed, one dagger finally flicking out from her sleeve, twirling it around her fingers dangerously.

" _ **And yet, it will never be enough,"**_ Masutā replied, and Isaac heard the heavy footsteps seemed to be getting closer. He carefully moved an inch away from the window, seeing the shadows growing larger, drowning the light cast. _**"For example…"**_

The pause grew so much that Isaac, holding his breath, tried stealing a peak.

A hand smashed through the glass, clutching around Isaac's throat and leaving him to struggle as glass showered down upon his face. He gasped out, trying to free himself as the armoured fingers dug into his flesh. He tried digging in to get a foothold, but Masutā easily picked him up and dragged him through the window frame as if he weighed nothing, taking out the rest of the glass with it. Isaac shouted out as he was thrown to the floor, rolling a few times before coming to an abrupt stop, grunting when a foot slammed onto his chest, pinning him down with enough force to test a couple of ribs.

" _ **You don't seem to know when the enemy is near,"**_ Masutā said, sword pointed directly at Isaac's cut-up face, giving off a faint green glow as he turned the blade accordingly.

Breathing heavily, Isaac's eyes darted back and forth between the two Demons towering over him, the she-Demon aiming her latest dagger directly between his eyes, while the armoured titan stood off to the side, blade a little too close to his throat for his liking…

"Shit," Was all he could say.

 **To be Continued...**

* * *

 **I wanted to put the completed chapter up at once for you guys, but I figured you've gone long enough between chapters. So this part is gonna be released now, and hopefully I'll have the rest down before the end of the month.**

 **As always, I hope you like the story so far, and don't forget to R &R.**

 **-Nf991.**


	22. Episode 21 - The God's Hand, Part 2

Episode 21 – The God's Hand, Part 2

Isaac's eyes darted back and forth between the two Demons towering over him, finding their blades a little _too_ close for his liking…Not that there was any distance he'd feel comfortable with them in general.

"Shit," he uttered, fingers trying to pry Batibat's boot from his throat; yet her strength in his current position was far greater than his right now. His mind raced with other ideas, or at least stalling the pair to give the others time. Just _anything._ Though it seemed somewhere, someone was watching him, since the second it seemed Batibat was raising her hand to strike him, a massive _BANG_ came from outside the room, followed by another _BANG_ as the door came crashing down. Streaks of yellow and black tore into the Restricted Room, barrelling into Masutā as the titan of a Demon turned.

Batibat quickly side-stepped, removing her foot from Isaac as she did so, and swatted Kyle off course and into another set of armour in the corner. She went to stamp back down on Isaac's throat, only smashing straight through the wooden floor. Her eyes flew up, and was immediately met with a fist straight to the nose from Isaac. The force pushed her back a few steps, more infuriated than anything else, as her blazing eyes came to rest on Isaac, unmorphed yet quickly adopting a fighting stance.

"Feel like telling us what that Pillar is, or are we gonna have to take that info from you?" Isaac asked, as Tanya and Kyle, after dislodging himself from the now-destroyed Samurai helmet, stood alongside him, all armoured up. Batibat and Masutā stood opposing them, weapons at the ready.

A smirk tugged at Batibat's expression, ignoring her bruised nose, as she twirled her blade back. "You will find out soon enough," she replied, being initially vague with any details. She brought her dagger-gripping hand up, ready to go on the offensive, as Masutā shifted into a stoic fighting stance, both hands gripping the long hilt to the sword; the blade radiating a faint green glow, as though it in of itself had its own dread-inducing feel.

The two groups looked about ready to tear the building apart fighting each other, and probably would have done that ten-fold, had they not been interrupted by a very loud, very clear shout, "Everybody freeze!"

Immediately, Kyle turned his head, quickly uttering, _"Footsteps; a lot of them. And armed."_ The door frame was quickly filled with armoured and armed SWAT forces, balaclavas and all, rushing into the museum and lasers all pointed to the five already in the restricted area. From the window, more laser beams shot through and began collecting on teens and Demons alike.

"Regular or Killers?" Isaac asked under his breath; as much as he found it cringe-worthy, Kyle's nickname for those new bullets was going to get drilled into their heads by his constant, and annoying, reminding.

Kyle audibly sniffed, his head turning a fraction further, before he responded, _"Regulars. But reckon there's Killers coming sooner or later; some of these guys reek of that Silver Bastard."_

" _Great, he's here too,"_ Tanya commented bitterly, head turning slowly to keep an eye on those aimed at her. _"So what's the plan then?"_ she asked, exhaling calmingly.

Isaac tried to remain as still as he could; the only one unarmoured one of the three, the Special Forces could read his body language that much easier. His eyes moved from one armed man to the other, the lasers beginning to focus over his heart as his mind raced to think of an idea. At that moment, his eyes landed on Masutā, who seemed to be looking at the Special Forces soldiers with a mixture of curiosity and insulting gazes; and the idea hit him.

"Duck."

" _What?"_ Kyle question, turning his body partially.

Several guns were cocked and primes, fingers hovering over the trigger. Isaac's hands grasped the other twos' shoulders, clutching the mixture of metal-plating and under-armour.

"Duck!" he repeated, dropping to the ground, dragging the others with him as the first bullets starting firing. The rest soon followed, a shower of bullets entering the room, and swiftly exiting through the opposing walls. Some bullets ricocheted off of Masutā's sturdy armour harmlessly, which only seemed to infuriate the Hand of Horror.

" _ **You dare attack Masutā, Bringer of the Master's Wrath?"**_ he proclaimed, stepping towards the window as the bullets came thundering in; all focused on his distinctive armour, yet none of them passing through or doing significant damage.

From their angle, the teens noticed how the bullets actually seemed to disintegrate mere millimetres from making contact; faint green traces of energy sparking across his chest with every bullet shot at him. _"How the hell are we expecting to stop this guy? He's a damn Samurai with a Demon person shield!"_ Kyle exclaimed, hand feeling around for a weapon of some kinds; he should've pulled out his blade when he had the chance!

"That part I haven't fought of yet," Isaac admitted, nudging Kyle's shoulder and gestured ahead of them. "But do you see any of them firing at us?"

Kyle turned to look at Isaac, before looking around and taking in all the bullets firing; the sounds bouncing off the confining walls. With a bit of concentration, he soon got an answer. _"No…"_

"Exactly. So let's get the hell out of here!" Isaac exclaimed, slapping the armoured shoulders of the pair as he took off, leaving a red streak behind him as he rushed through the door. The Special Forces member he ran into barely recovered as two more streaks ran into him, sending him crashing into one of the museum's walls.

A blast from the Restricted Area brought Kyle out of his run, lingering momentarily to look back into the room. A body flew to the ground, radiating an ominous green glow as it came to rest feet from Kyle. He brought his eyes up to the door itself, and he swore that wall looked sturdier than before…

" _Kyle!"_ he heard Tanya shout, bringing him out of his thoughts and pushed him from the shop, tearing down the streets.

* * *

" _Woo-ow! Wow, wow!"_ Tyler exclaimed, fighting to maintain his balance as the entire cockpit shook and rocked from side to side. _"This is,"_ he paused to overcome a serious case of wobbling, _"a hell of a lot harder than I thought."_

Thankfully, and from what he had just proven, useful, Natalie had suggested they move a fair bit away from the main city before calling the Zords. They were now tearing up the earth of the open plains just beyond the city limits. Well, _he_ was tearing the place up. Natalie had occupied her Zord, purely to watch him. The Omega Zord itself was in a relaxed pose; lying on the ground, weight marking the spot as its resting place, with the front legs crossed and heavy head resting across them.

At the right distance, it could have easily passed for a living, organic wolf. Only…bigger.

Natalie herself sat on the lowered muzzle of her Zord, helmet off and set at her side as she watched Tyler test out the waters. She brought her Howler partway up, a smile on her face as she encouraged, "You're doing great. You haven't tripped over yet, so that's-"

A loud _CRASH_ followed in the distance, along with Tyler's surprised shout coming over the comms.

"…Never mind," she finished sheepishly.

As the Beta Zord recovered, its head shaking to clear the dirt clogged in its panels, Natalie quickly recovered her helmet and disappeared into her Zords' cockpit. As the cables locked onto her, the Zord came to life once again; ears perking up and head raising, it rose up to its paws and approached the other, stilled Wolf Zord.

" _How the hell did you guys get used to this shit so quickly?"_ Tyler questioned as the Omega Wolf came up alongside his own. _"You were taking out massive Demons and shit as a Megazord the second you rolled them out!"_

Natalie had been in the middle of unplugging herself when Tyler spoke. She answered, with a shrug, _"Dunno. It just…came more naturally. I mean, maybe it's because you're not the first? I don't know how it entirely works, but it probably has something to do with the bloodlines or something."_

" _What, like a higher concentration or something?"_ Tyler questioned.

" _Probably. Like I said, not something I know. Something that Savage or MUTT will have a better understand of."_

"Y'know, for how cringe worthy she can be at times, she's smart."

Tyler had to resist reacting when Matt's voice sudden piped up again, as he came into view; waltzing around the cockpit of the Megazord, circling around where he was locked into place. He came to a stop at the edge of the one of the eyes. _"Will you shut up?"_ he whispered harshly, sparing a brief side glare through his helmet.

Matt's hands went out, as mock surrender, as a metal hatch opened up in the ceiling of the cockpit; light streaming in, lighting everything up. Natalie came falling through shortly after, landing gracefully in front of Tyler.

" _Probably a good idea to get you out of those,"_ she commented, and he could swear he could see the smirk beneath her helmet as she walked around his side, fiddling with the cables attached to his back.

"Better hope she knows what she's doing, or it's gonna be a, 'shocking' experience," Matt informed, kicking off of the screen and approached Tyler's other side, peaking over to watch Natalie systematically work off the cables and wires. Matt threw a dirty glare across at Matt, who was visibly smirking, as he straightened, continuing, "Eh, this whole things a mess of cables and wires. That cybernetic fleabag had to go and ruin millennial-old designs."

" _How do you know so much about these Zords?"_ Tyler questioned, fingers flexing when one of his hands were released. He'd expected Matt, with his back to him, to answer; since he _had_ been directing it to the…thing masquerading as his friend, but he didn't give the answer.

" _Eh, hanging around the Den after getting roughed up has its ups and downs; MUTT can be a proper pain in the ass sometimes, but he's useful if you're looking to learn,"_ Natalie answered, working across and releasing Tyler's other arm.

" _Y…Y-Yeah, makes sense,"_ Tyler replied coolly, playing into it as he rolled both shoulders, feeling the great weight lifted from them. _"I'll have to get on that; being a tech guy and all that."_

Natalie chuckled softly, coming out almost cybernetic through the filter, and said, _"I can see you and MUTT getting on like a house on fire. Not sure if the others will take kindly to you and MUTT talking about computer stuff like its English."_

Tyler laughed a bit at this, giving a faint shake of his head as he was finally released; he took a few steps forward, loosening up his stiff joints. _"Hey, he might be glad to have someone who actually understands what he says for once."_

" _Oh I beg to differ,"_ Natalie teased, breaking into more laughter alongside Tyler's own. They kept up for a few more seconds, before Tyler's came to an abrupt stop. Natalie's died down soon after, taking a small step closer. _"Tyler?"_

"You gonna answer her or gonna let her think you're one step away from the looney bin?" Matt questioned, grinning like a maniac as Tyler tried burning holes through that thick head of his. It took another few seconds, before Tyler finally gave up and looked across at Natalie.

" _Sorry…just, feel weird after being in control of the Zord,"_ he apologized, turning back fully to the other Warrior.

She gave a small shrug in response, _"It happens, don't worry about it. Now, we'll give it a bit and then we'll try and see how you are with the Auxiliary Zords."_

" _Auxi…what?"_ Tyler questioned, sounding completely perplexed.

"They call them Auxiliary Zords, but they're just members of the Pack outside of the Hierarchy. Stupid re-naming, but whatever," Matt informed, giving a faint eye roll as his hands stuffed themselves into his pockets. "Just you humans and unnecessary want for change."

Ignoring that last comment thrown at him, Tyler took note of Natalie, apparently repeating what Matt had just said to him, more or less. He gave a slight nod, trying to make it seem like he was paying attention, and said, _"Fair enough…So, coffee?"_

Natalie gave a nod, a smirk forming beneath that helmet. And over his shoulder, Tyler heard a prolonged groan that made him smirk.

"I'm supposed to be the bastard here, not you," he heard Matt comment aloud.

* * *

" _Wow-wow-wow-wow!"_ Kyle exclaimed, rounding a corner down an alley and screeched to a stop. Faint clouds of smoke formed at his feet as the ground formed skid marks beneath him. The Yellow and Red streaks in front of him also came to a stop, and Isaac and Tanya leaned against the narrow walls, as all three began catching their breath. If he had to guess, they must have put at least a couple of miles between them and the Demons and Soldiers.

" _What kind of fucking Demon was that?!"_ Tanya exclaimed, tearing her helmet off and let it roll onto the ground, breathing heavily with her head held low.

" _Isaac,"_ Kyle said, picking himself up to look at the back of the Red Warrior, hunched over and panting. _"You were the one that called us in; you got anything on that guy?"_

Isaac's only response was panting and gasps of breath for the first few seconds, before bringing himself up straight with assistance from the wall, and turned around. His other hand worked the clasps of his helmet, and carelessly dropped it to the ground; revealing the streaks of sweat down the side of his head, spiking his hair at odd angles and mixing with some of the recent bleeding cuts.

"That Bitch…she was talking with that…whatever-Demon when I found them. Kept calling him something like…Masseuse or some shit. They were talking about something called 'The Great Darkness' and some pillar. Then they dragged me through the window, and then you two turned up. Then we all know what happened."

"Clusterfuck," Tanya added dryly.

" _What they talking about, Great Darkness? What Pillar?"_ Kyle questioned, hands holding the top of his helmet, as his breathing slowly eased.

"I'm gonna contact Savage, see if he knows," Isaac said, bringing his Howler up and tapped a few buttons.

* * *

"Savage," the anthro wolf answered, standing at one of the computers when it lit up, alerting him that one of the Warriors was trying to contact him.

" _Savage, it's Isaac,"_ came the voice on the other end. _"We've found something Demonic, except we haven't got a fucking clue what it is. Need your opinion."_

"What've you got?" Savage questioned, signalling MUTT to be ready. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the robot bring up the records.

" _Ran into some Samurai armour-decked motherfucker with Batibat. They were talking about some pillar and this Great Darkness shit. She kept calling them guy Masute or some shit."_

With each bit of informative scrap Isaac provided, Savage's mind raced for anything to connect the dots. Claw-tipped fingers tapped the edge of the desk, drawing MUTT's attention, as he turned around entirely to see Savage's tail lashing behind him; the trench coat had been taken off a few minutes prior, flung over the railing.

Minutes crawled by, with no words spoke as Savage thought. Isaac finally broke the silence, asking, _"Savage, you still there? This fucking thing cut off again?"_

"Nothing."

" _What?"_ Kyle's voice spoke up.

"I…I do not recall such information. I know not of this Pillar or this Demon. This is extremely troubling…" Savage reiterated, fingers flexing in and out of clenched fists. "I should know this."

" _Great. So we're dealing with shit that even Wolfie here doesn't know. Fan-fucking-tastic(!)"_ Isaac's sarcastic tone rang through the comms, further irritating Savage.

Before any more could be said, MUTT stepped in, passing control of the comms over to the computer beside Savage. _"Best chance of finding out information is by keeping close to Batibat and this new Demon. There will be a high probability that, if they are speaking of this Pillar, and it is from the Past, they may be trying to recover information themselves."_

" _Fat chance of that happening,"_ Tanya butted in, _"We had to high-tail it out of there after the fucking Japanese Army rolled up and turned a museum into shit. Worse, we got whiff of that slimy Silver bastard."_

"The Silver Imposter is on the same land mass?" Savage queried, simmering down enough to speak reasonably. Though MUTT could definitely hear him utter some…unkind words in his own tongue. "The Demon trace must have been picked up by him as well. Whatever the Demons are seeking, you must find it first; before the Demons, or this Imposter, find it first."

" _Oh yes, a completely reasonable and easy to accomplish,"_ Isaac's heavily-sarcasm laced tone returned, and MUTT picked up the faint audio signals of Kyle's voice snapping at, supposedly, Isaac.

" _We'll see what we can do,"_ Kyle's voice came front and centre. _"How's Tyler doing, anyway? Natalie keeping him from killing himself?"_

" _She's trying to get him aquatinted with his Beta Zord, and right now, I've received a request to release the Lightning Brothers,"_ MUTT informed, his other hand moving across to yet another keyboard, tapping in the release code.

" _Tell her to go easy on him, K?"_ Kyle asked, before the comms were cut off suddenly.

"I don't like not knowing," Savage commented, a hint of a growl present in his tone as he tore his coat from the railing, heading off of the raised area. "I hate it."

" _We learn through various experiences, not just through simple victories or defeats. Isn't that what you told me the Elders told you?"_ MUTT questioned, refocusing his efforts on his current computer. _"A direct fight with this new Demon won't provide as much information as holding back and observing."_

"I prefer prior knowledge. Lacking knowledge is…unhelpful," Savage said, finally turning around properly and headed through one of the doors, roughly putting the jacket back on, thrusting his fists through the sleeves.

* * *

"What the hell's your problem?" Kyle questioned, as Isaac walked a few steps down the alley and reached for his helmet. He had just wanted to check up on their newest member…what was his deal?

Helmet now in hand, Isaac looked over his shoulder, responding, "There's a time and place to worry about what the hell's going on back in Pax. This isn't one of those times; right now, we need to figure out what the fuck we're dealing with here. When, and _only_ when, we're done here, I'll check up on M…on Tyler."

"I fucking knew it," Kyle commented sharply, pointing a finger accusingly at him. "You're still all hung up over what happened to Matt. I told you to drop it!"

"You try dropping shit like that. It ain't fucking easy!" Isaac shouted back, before Tanya pushed herself between the guys and separated them.

"Will you guys shut it? You're gonna cause a scene; the last thing we need right now is that Silver bastard finding us," Tanya hissed, adding an extra shove to Isaac's chest when the red-clad teen tried to take a step closer; giving him a slight glare when he threw his own one at her.

"We're _going_ to find what those Demons are hiding," Isaac stated, pointing to the ground to draw his figurative line.

"No," Kyle responded bluntly, trying to step around Tanya. " _You_ are going to give a proper explanation as to why you've been nothing but a proper asshole to Tyler ever since he replaced Matt."

"This has nothing to do with that," Isaac responded, teeth grinding together as he swiftly brought his helmet up and onto his head, locking it into place. _"Drop it, now."_ He didn't even give Kyle a chance to fire a retort back; he turned to Tanya, gave her a brief, _"You two try and find them,"_ before tearing off down the alley. The force of his sudden speed tore several bricks loose from the wall, and a nearby window cracked viciously.

As the last clouds settled, Tanya turned to look back at Kyle, who was visibly fuming, as she questioned, "What was that all about?"

"What do you think?" Kyle responded bluntly, turning down the opposite way and took a couple of steps, hands rubbing his face as a groan came from him. "It's about Matt, clearly," he added, responding to his own question as he turned around on the spot. "You saw how he reacted when I even _mentioned_ it! It's been three weeks; I've gotten over relatives' deaths in shorter time."

"This is…different," Tanya said, trying to reason with Kyle as she rubbed the sweat steadily forming on her brow. The climate didn't seem as bad as when they were in that shuttle hotel; now they were in the open, she especially was really feeling the lack of AC.

"How?" Kyle questioned, pinching the bridge of his nose. "How exactly is this different?"

"Because of these fuckers," Tanya responded, bringing her Howler up. "Savage told us these things were….changing us, almost. Faster reactions, senses increased…but what if it's doing something with how we think?"

Kyle looked at her blankly.

She sighed in frustration. "Nat looked up a few things on Wolves a while back; said she wanted to see if there was anything we could get from that. I reckon it's starting to get that 'pack mentality' effect on us."

"You're saying he's got a hard-on for Matt's death because of these Howlers? About how his thought process is or some shit?" Kyle questioned, raising an eyebrow as he glanced down to his own Howler. "I mean…I guess it makes sense, somewhat. But still…he really needs to be over it by this point."

Tanya sighed again, recovering her helmet and looked across at Kyle. "C'mon," she said, slipping her helmet on and re-attaching the clasps. _"Let's go hunt us some Demons."_

Exhaling through his nose, Kyle grabbed his helmet and slipped it on, giving a quick check that they were in fact still alone, before both he and Tanya tore off down the opposite direction of the alley, kicking up dirt and cracking the sidewalk as they passed over it at speed.

Unaware of the binoculars trying to keep track of them, for the brief moments after they left the alley. "Targets are on the move. Red Ranger moving West, Black and Yellow moving East,"a balaclava-clad figure spoke into a hand radio.

" _Send units out to track the two. I've got Red,"_ E's voice said over the radio.

The man holding the radio pulled it back slightly, glancing at the other man, armed with another set of binoculars and a sniper resting on the edge of the building. Both men looked at the radio; even with the encryption-modification, that seemed far too…altered.

* * *

"Are you sure it is wise to face such a Warrior by yourself? I have seen the reports on this particular one," the Head of the Japanese Special Forces Agency commented as he accompanied E down the corridor. If it hadn't of been for the light catching on the layered armour, it was the heavy footsteps that echoed down both sides that gave away the Ranger suit.

The whirl of the armour's assistor accompanied each step, as they passed through another set of doors; this time, finding themselves outside, with armed guards on either side of the entrance. Only then, did E turn around to look at the Head of the SFA; his HUD focusing in on his face, though took note of the lack of details that usually came up with the face recognition.

" _This is no Warrior,"_ E stated, turning around and walked a few steps, boots crunching concrete. _"Just some punk European kid who thinks he's above the law. I'm going to remind all of them of their place."_

"You must not let your past dictate your actions for this group of Rangers, Agent," the older man responded, just as E was about to leave. He took note, despite the heavy and bulky suit, of how E tensed up and looked back partially. "A path of dark intention will only lead to a darker destination."

" _I don't need your bullshit fortune-cookie wisdom,"_ E snapped, fingers flexing; almost igniting the energy blades in his wrist. The faintest trace of energy crackled along the vambraces, but it quickly subsided. Without another word, he took off; a forceful shockwave blasting out, almost knocking over the guards from the force. Yet the older gentleman remained in place, his suit flapping in the sudden wind, as he watched the silver streak take off, into his city.

He exhaled slowly, giving a slight shake of his head. _"Orokamono,"_ he uttered under his breath, gesturing to the guards to remain stationary as he walked back into the building, the guards moving into place.

* * *

" _Damn, and I thought the Beta Zord was a pain in the ass to control,"_ Tyler grunted, almost dropping to one knee in an effort to control the Crimson Wolf. Its brother was to one side of the open plain, deep navy armour standing out against the relatively green area, its head rested over crossed forelegs. The Crimson Zord was proving the more difficult to control, as Tyler was finding out himself. _"Was this one this much of an asshole for Matt?"_

" _Not that I remember,"_ Natalie replied, off to one side of the hill, sat down as she watched Tyler struggle. _"Maybe you're doing it wrong?"_

" _I'm doing it exactly how you showed me,"_ was his flat response, shoulders sagging after momentarily giving up control. The Crimson Zord, much to Tyler's annoyance, seemed to relaxed the moment he released his control over it, and casually rose to its feet and walked away; leaving massive footsteps of upturned grass and dirt. He gave the retreating Zord the middle finger as a result.

Natalie chuckled softly, rising and approached Tyler. She gave a friendly shove to his shoulder, assuring him, _"It's a matter of practice. Or it might be because it…I don't know,_ feels _that you're not Matt. It's just being an ass because you're different."_

Tyler sighed lowly, and Natalie gave another pat to his shoulder. _"I'll go talk with Savage; see if I can get a better idea of what's going on,"_ she said, giving a faint, mock salute goodbye as she headed off. Tyler turned to watch her leave, catching the last traces of white armour disappearing among the trees and bushes.

"She's got a good ass, I'll give you that."

Tyler could swear he was going to jump out of his suit one of these days.

" _Stop fucking doing that!"_ he exclaimed, coming around to face Matt once again; and like before, he had that smug grin plastered across his face.

"We'll its more entertaining watching her leave than watching your piss-poor attempt at controlling one of the Pack. And as Beta, it's your job to keep the others in line; that just makes it that much more depressing," Matt replied, gesturing first to Tyler, then to the metal titan in the distance. "It's really not that difficult."

" _You explain to me then! What's the problem with them?"_ Tyler demanded, gesturing to the distant Zords.

"The problem isn't with them. The problem lies with you."

" _And why's that? Because I'm not you?"_

"Because you have the square-root of jack in common with Matt, personality-wise," Matt informed, hands finding their way back into his pockets. "You lack his…abrasiveness, which got those Zords under his control in the first place."

" _Look, it's weird enough that I'm even acknowledging the fact I'm talking to someone I *know* to be dead. Mostly because all the shit I've had to come to terms with in these weeks. But don't even begin to talk about yourself in the third-person,"_ Tyler stated, pointing to Matt accusingly as he took threatening steps closer.

Yet Matt remained in place, simply gesturing behind him to the distant Zord. "How about you try it again? Only this time, try to have some sort of backbone with them." He gained another glare thrown in his direction at his latest comment, and a purposeful shove to his shoulder as Tyler passed by him.

Reaching the peak once again, Tyler exhaled slowly, trying to relax as he focused on the distant form of the Crimson Zord; if it were a real wolf, he would almost call it relaxing with his 'brother'. He brought his hand up, and focused once again. Doing just as Natalie and Savage had told him about;

' _Clear your mind, there are none but the Pack. Focus on the Pack. Reach out, and command them.'_

His eyes drifted close, allowing himself to be guided, mentally, to the Crimson Wolf; it had a fiery personality, sticking out against the relative calm resonating from the Navy Wolf. The moment it felt him trying to reach out to it, Tyler felt it put up a fight. The mental link should've at least tried to connect by now. He put more emphasis on his command over the Zord, fingers almost closing into a fist as the Crimson Zord put up more of a fight.

Its growl even echoed inside his helmet.

His outstretched hand shook slightly, trying to maintain focus on the task of controlling the Zord, the spark fighting against his control.

"There is a specific amount of force required; too much is dangerous. But it's also way too easy to get to that point," Matt's voice butted through his concentration, despite his attempts to ignore it. But it threw him off just enough to give the Zord an edge; the spark moved out of his mental reach. "Here," the voice said again, and Tyler finally opened his eyes.

Through his visor, he saw Matt standing alongside him, hand outstretched to mirror his own. He refocused when he felt that spark draw closer, and closed his eyes to mental reach out. He was amazed at how…calm the otherwise aggravated Zord was now. _"How the hell do you do that?"_ he questioned under his breath, twisting his head slightly and spared a glance across at Matt; taking note of how his eyes remained open, and he seemed far more relaxed than he was right now. _"This isn't just you using Matt's body, whatever the hell you are."_

"When you've got it, you've got it," Matt responded, and his smirk caught Tyler's attention. He gestured in front of the pair, and Tyler looked back around.

He almost jumped out of his armour when he found himself face to face with the massive Zord head. The spark hadn't given any indication that the Zord had approached them, hell, he was more surprised he didn't _feel_ the ground shake with the Zords' approach. But now that he focused on the spark again, he found it didn't radiate that aggressive nature that had been present during his attempts to control in.

Now Matt-or whatever it really was-was doing all the work, however, it seemed far more passive and relaxed. Not a single shred of malice was in the giant, ice-blue eyes of the metal beast, as it lowered his head in the same pace of Matt's lowering arm. As its chin came to partially embed itself into the ground, due to the weight, Tyler took a small step closer to Matt's side.

" _How the hell are you doing that?"_ he questioned, looking between the titanic metal muzzle and the…thing standing beside him. _"Because you're sure as shit not Matt, so don't use that fucking reason."_

He gave a small shrug, and Tyler saw that bastard smirk as he repeated, "Sometimes, when you've got it…you've got it. Simple as." He turned to face Tyler, adding, "Aren't you going to pet him?"

Despite the helmet keeping most of his emotion at bay, Tyler was pretty sure he got the blank look across to Matt. _"It's a giant metal Wolf Zord. Stop acting like it's some overgrown pup."_

"Just because its metal to you, doesn't automatically mean that it cannot feel," Matt replied, a slight edge to his tone as he spoke; simultaneously reminding Tyler of the Matt he remembered, while also surprising him with just how sharp his tone's edge seemed to be. Even for Matt's standards, it seemed…harsh.

"Now…pet him."

Slowly, Tyler turned away from Matt and faced the gigantic Zord; it seemed so much larger, standing in front of it now, than even when he was inside the cockpit of his own Zord. His hand rose back up and, with small steps, closed the gap between himself and the Zord. Barely inches away, he found himself holding his breath as his fingers brushed against the steel. He had been half-expecting the Zord to attack at the last second, dropping the peaceful façade and snapping them up.

But the attack never came; instead, Tyler made contact with the surprisingly smooth metal plates; the various sharp edges and jagged appearance to the Zord as a whole gave him the impressive that even stepping wrong with this Zord would result in a deadly cut. But this one, at least where he was touching, was very…smooth. And it just seemed to be…buzzing with energy.

' _Kinda to be expected with a Zord who can harness electricity,'_ he thought to himself dryly, the armoured gloves seemed that much rougher as he moved it across the surface.

"Amazing creatures, aren't they?" Matt questioned, looking across as his hand slowly returned to his side. Not that Tyler seemed to notice, along with the question; far too fascinated with the sheer energy pulsing from the Zord. But Matt merely smiled, looking back to the Zord as he uttered under his breath.

All Tyler caught was "…lotta work into these."

" _Hmm?"_ Tyler questioned, finally managing to process words as the amazement started to fade away. _"Did you say something?"_

"No," was the response he got, quickly followed by a stiff inhale. "Well, look at that. Looks like you've actually grown a backbone. Miracles _can_ happen after all."

Now _that_ was the Matt he remembered; not that he thought very fondly of those memories.

" _I'm back. Sava-wow."_

A returning voice brought Tyler out of his thoughts, and turned around; pulling his hand away from the bowing Wolf Zord looming in front of, and above, him. The white armour stood out against the green foliage, as Natalie brushed past the last of it to make it back from the Den. Right now, she was stopped right in her tracks, surprised she didn't get a heads up before leaving.

Then again, with the Zords' size, she really should have spotted it a lot easier.

" _I see you've, uh, been getting yourself acquainted with the Zords. It's…quicker than Savage said it would take, but hey. Who am I to complain about it?"_ Natalie said, beaming beneath her helmet as she approached. Her movement caught the attention of the titanic Crimson Zord, yet it remained where it was for now as Natalie came up alongside Tyler. _"Did a really 180, huh?"_

" _Yeah,"_ Tyler responded, a small smirk forming under his helmet as he partially glanced at Natalie. _"Yeah-yeah. Just…something you said, made me try things a different way. Try being…"_

" _More like Matt,"_ Natalie finished off, but there was something in her tone that seemed…sad. But that thought was pushed aside when he felt the Crimson Wolf shift a fraction. Even the slightest movements shook the ground beneath their feet, almost knocking them over in the process of it relaxing. _"Maybe we do still need someone like Matt, but for the most part, we need you for you, Tyler."_

" _Reckon the Zords would still listen to me when I'm not being an ass?"_ he questioned in turn, glancing across as Natalie came to sit down before the Zord. Tyler slowly joined her, fiddling with a few blades of grass.

The wind took them as Natalie replied with, _"Adapting to the situation. Evolution's logic; adapt, or die."_

" _Bit of a brutal way of putting it,"_ Tyler responded, looking back to the Crimson Zord, watching it watch the pair of them. Both their gazes turned when a response came.

" _Everything adapts to live; it's nature. Those who refuse to change….they don't last very long."_

* * *

His footsteps were surprisingly quiet, considering the weight of the suit, as he moved through the museum. The scans of the interior showed no life signs, save for his own, but E was still on guard; Fairweather made mention of how some Demons could avoid detection if they truly wanted to. His fists ready to activate his weaponry at a moments' notice.

" _Lingering chemical signature of the three Ranger subjects,"_ he commented aloud, the small recorder built into his suit activated as he examine the scene. The museum had been torn to shreds, bullet holes cutting through the wall and some were still lodged into the opposite wall. He stepped over another body, mindful of the pools of blood, forming more of the floor than the floor itself. _"Multiple casualties; all officers of the JSF. No sign of Demon entities, but scanner is picking up notably high signatures."_

He finally looked across the restricted area of the museum, and approached the display cases. The shattered glass had been painted with a thin layer of blood, the droplets collecting on the jagged edges. It was the blood-dotted, extra warning beneath the empty space that caught E's attention. He tapped the side of his helmet, and a new tab opened up on his HUD, connecting him to the JSF HQ.

" _What is it now, Agent? We have significantly more important matters to attend to now. Namely all the families that will be burdened with the news of their fathers, sons, brothers and uncles that they will no longer see,"_ came the video response from the Head. And as E looked around the floor, the number in his head only grew.

Not that was _his_ current concern.

" _Found something you'd probably want noted. Broken cabinet, guessing something was inside but it's not there anymore. It's got some kind of warning, wondered if you'd translate it?"_ E questioned, crouching down in front of the display case, tapping what remained of the blood-splattered glass.

After a moment of silence-though E was sure he heard a sigh over the comms-the Head replied, _"Send a video feed over."_

With a silent eye roll, E activated the video, providing a direct feed to the JSF Headquarters. He focused in on the warning first, before standing up and took a step back to get the entire case in. Just as he did so, however, he heard sudden clattering on the other end of the feed, with what he suspected was some kind of Jap curse word. The other voice was quickly silenced and the Head stiffly gave a response.

" _The plaque describes a set of armour that brings great terror to those who fought the wearer. Many stories surround this missing piece; up until recent events, I assumed them all false. But if these…Rangers of yours have taken this ancient armour, I dread to consider what possible truths may be unveiled."_

" _This isn't the work of those punks, as much as it irritates me to say,"_ E responded, bending down to grab a shard of glass, giving it a once over before tossing it aside. _"I'm not getting any of their chemical signatures on any of this glass; it's all smeared with one of those Demons. If the reports are correct, the same female Demon we've seen around our location of interest."_ E suddenly exhaled in annoyance, pacing in small circles, hands resting on his hips. _"Why here though?"_

"What do you mean?"the Head questioned, watching the video feed intently as E stopped pacing. In the background, the other members in the room worked tirelessly at their computers, maps on every relative program and scans running throughout. In the background of some, news reports covering the situation the foreigner found himself in.

" _Why this Demon in particular? Our records have several other places where there's been substantial Demon activity in the past,"_ E explained, walking up to one of the dismantled weapons' rack and looked down at one of the weapons in a strange position, to say the least.

Considering it was lodged into the ground, E found it of great interest.

As he crouched beside it, E continued, _"So what brought her to this one in particular? What's this set of armour that makes it so important to these Demons we're dealing with?"_

"Sir," one of the Agents at a computer piped up, looking over his monitor. The Head looked back, cocking an eyebrow when he noted the subtle gesture the Agent made.

But he gave a small nod and turned back to the video feed. "One moment, Agent," he said, tapping on the small tablet beside him. The video feed dimmed slightly, a faint mute symbol appearing in the corner.

"What is it?" the Head questioned as he turned back and approached his own Agent. He came up to the side of the computer, looking across his screen.

"I'm receiving reports of strange activity at one of the checkpoints on Fuji. Officers stationed at Fuji had cornered off the area from the public, and I have ordered them to re-route the public path to avoid the area entirely," the JSF Agent informed, showing him both the written report, and the attached video file. The Head leaned in, the low-res video making it difficult to determine what it was showing exactly. But one thing, no matter how few pixels made it up, was crystal clear the moment it was shown.

"He is there…" he commented under his breath, inhaling sharply as the distinctive shape of the accursed armour march across the width of the video, with that mysterious other figure described to him by the previous dying reports. Looking up, the Head found the other agents in the room looking up, apparently awaiting orders. "Seal off the surrounding area, and stop every journey up and down that portion of Fuji; all climbers are to remain at their nearest stop."

The Agent that called him over quickly set about doing just that, tapping several keys as the Head moved away, approaching his original standing point. "Send a group of available units to act as a barrier, protecting the civilians on the mountain, should anything happen with this Demon. Go through all of our Archive Files regarding this suit of armour; see if there are any connections between the suit and Fuji."

Another two Agents set to work, researching and following through with the Head's orders. He gave a small nod of approval, before finally coming returning to his original spot. "Not a word of any information gained will be passed onto this foreign Agent; this is a matter of national security, should this resurrection lead to something. Mr. Abe expects this much from us, regardless of their origin," the Head stated, looking around at all of the Agents in the room, making brief eye contact with each and every one.

All of them nodding, proof they understood the tone of their Head.

"As of right now, our priority extends beyond simply protecting our country from current threats; now, we are to protect Japan from threats of the past."

* * *

" _One moment, Agent."_

E would've responded if he had the chance; the comms just cut off. He scoffed quietly, uttering, _"Thanks for the heads up,"_ as he threw a broken bit of the weapons' rack aside. He got up, intending on going to investigate the rest of the small museum. Surely there must have been something th-

 _Clunk._

He stopped in his tracks when he heard the sound; the wood must have hit something as he threw it. But…something sounded wrong. E turned around, seeing the chunk of wood on the ground; a small dent forming in the, formerly, solid wall right above where it had come to rest. _"That shouldn't be like that…"_ E muttered to himself, as he turned around fully and approached the wall. The cracked wooden panel was directly where the missing suit of armour had been, easily missed if the suit had been where it should have been.

Brushing the remaining shards of glass aside, E reached around the display stand, no small feat considering the bulky nature of his suit of armour, and gave a quick shove to the weakened panel. It gave way with ease, the fragmented panel falling into the newly revealed void; and his hand going with it. But rather than pull it back, E wasted no time and felt around a bit. He quickly figured out what he was dealing with.

" _Fake wall,"_ he muttered to himself, shifting around and felt as far as he could from the hole. The stone brings felt rather cold, not that it concerned E. What was more interest of him was just how expansive this false wall seemed to reach.

It didn't take him long to come to a decision.

* * *

The Head tapped the tablet again, bringing the call back into focus and went to speak. But immediately stopped when he saw what was going on through the feed. And quickly took a different approach to speaking.

"Agent! What in the name of all that is sane do you think you are doing?!" he demanded, the sudden raised voice startling the other agents in the room. They all turned to the screen, and nearly every one of them had to force themselves to keep working through the shock and anger suddenly trying to force itself to the surface.

On the enlarged screen, the Agents of the JSF got a first-person view of the Foreign Agent tearing down a wall; but it was the fact that the other display cases were visible and he was throwing the panels so carelessly that made their blood boil. _"There's a fake wall behind the display cases; frankly, I don't think we have the time to carefully dismantle everything here,"_ E responded, using both hands to tear off a larger chunk of wood and threw it aside.

* * *

When he was satisfied that enough of the wood had been removed, E stepped back and assessed the situation. The real wall was mostly visible now, blank stone a lot colder than the warmer feel the wooden wall gave off. So far, however, he didn't see anything remotely linking him to this missing suit of armour.

Not that there wasn't anything.

" _You are disgracing centuries old artefacts! Sacred to my people!"_ the Head shouted over the comms, as E moved to one side of the cases and set about moving them. With a little effort, the wooden legs squeaking as they were forced to move against the friction of the floor.

" _Look, in the grand scheme of things, the past is…but a memory and we need to protect the now,"_ E grunted, finally settling on its newest spot and took a step back to plan his next move. While the wood behind where the display case had been was a few shades lighter than that above or beside it, it still continued onward from the hole he had created. With the threatening tone of the Head of the JSF continuing to ring in his ear, E continued to tear down the wood.

* * *

"Not only is he contaminating a crime scene, he is damaging national-protected artefacts!" one of the Agents piped up, unable to simply stand there and watch in silence. He quickly fell silent, however, when the intense glare of the Head turned to face him. His head quickly ducked behind the supposed safety of his monitor, and quickly returned to his work in silence.

"Even if we were to try and stop him, with the current equipment in that area, we would be severely outgunned. The less blood that is shed, the better," the Head stated, turning back around to face the videoed destruction. "But rest assured," he added, looking over his shoulder, "we will see that we make him pay for his desecration."

He returned his full attention to the screen once again, just as E came to another stop from inflicting damage on the false wall.

* * *

" _Are you quite done destroyed artefacts of my culture, Agent?"_

" _Unless I have to tear down the rest of this building to get some kind of answer, yes,"_ E answered bluntly, crouching at the base of the wall-sized hole he created and checked the crammed spaces between the real wall and what remained of the false one. He looked back and forth, hoping to find something warranting the creation of this false wall in the first place, but so far, it seemed it was a simple cosmetic change-

" _What have we here?"_ E questioned, something catching his HUD in one of the dark corners; he reached in, feeling around for the object.

" _Agent? What have you found?"_ the Head questioned, only getting silence as his answer as E felt around in the darkness. And thanks to it being a simple video, unenhanced by E's suit, it was if they were staring at a pitch black sky. Finally, light returned to the screen as E pulled back, something clutched in his hand.

" _A scroll?"_ E asked himself, looking over the old and tattered roll of paper; his scans automatically trying to date the latest chemicals and materials used to make up the scroll, but judging by appearance alone, E would have to guess that it easily wasn't from this millennium. He approached the nearest table in the room, brushing off the glass shards and set the scroll down. With surprising care, he unrolled the paper, laying it as flat as it could go without damaging the parchment. _"Can you lot make any sense of this?"_

* * *

"Do we have any information regarding this?" the Head questioned his Agents, the video momentarily muted. The initial answer was the furious tapping of keys, not a single word. But he knew he didn't have any time for this; the Foreign Agent would grow suspicious if he kept him too long.

He unmuted the video, and after clearing his throat, responded, "It is difficult to make out; while a simple translation to a more modern interpretation could be easy, several key parts of the manuscript seemed to be been erased or damaged due to time. It would take several hours to get an accurate translation, if all of it was there in pristine condition. And as you yourself said, that is time we simply do not have."

Something caught the corner of his vision, and looked over his shoulder to see the silent wave from one of his Agents. "One moment," he stated, keeping the call muted and approached the desk.

* * *

Another scoff came with another muted call. Rather than try and say something now he wasn't going to be heard, E continued looking through the scroll. Every so often moving it a little to read a different part, mindful of the delicate nature of the parchment. But even with his knowledge, E knew that this was _way_ beyond his language barriers.

Didn't help the fact that half of the letters had faded from visible sight.

Nor did the sudden, ear-splitting screech do him any favours.

E shouted out suddenly upon being nearly deafened him initially, forcing him to one knee as he tried to work out the cause. One hand flew to unfold the helmet from his head; he would have done the same for the other, but in the surprise of the screech, he'd activated the energy blade accidently. The wild swing to get the weapon away from him resulted in the further destruction of the armour display; slicing it clean in half, shattering what glass remained intact.

" _E?! E, we're—ge-…readings fr-sui-! Resp-!"_ the scrambled voice of Clint came over the comms, but it was barely legible through the static and high-pitch whine. Even when he managed to release the helmet and have it fold back onto itself, E found the ringing and whining still very prominent in his ears. He managed to prop himself partially up on the desk, still trying to figure out what the cause was of this; couldn't have been the suit, now that the helmet was off and he was still severely disorientated.

"W…What is this?" he uttered to himself, trying to bring himself back to his feet. Though strangely, every time he did make progress, the pitch seemed to raise just enough to bring him back down again. The last thing he remembered was falling to the ground entirely, coming to rest on his side as the darkness started to close in…

* * *

His eyes snapped open, inhaling sharply as he jerked up. A blood rush from his brain stalled him momentarily as he paused on one knee to gather his breath. E felt the cold sweat running down his face, bringing his hand up to wipe a few drops from his skin. He brought it into the moonlight- _moonlight._

"How…How long was I out?" E asked himself, grunting as he brought himself up to his feet, quickly shaking the weakness in his knee. A quick tap to the control panel brought his helmet back down, the HUD lighting up as he searched for the information he needed.

2:43am. Only a few minutes, at most.

" _What the hell was that?"_ he muttered aloud, giving a small shake to the head as he looked around the room. The notification of a call on his HUD caught his attention, distracting him long enough to answer it. _"Yeah what?"_

" _We lost contact with you for a few minutes, Agent. I am curious as to the reason,"_ the JSF Head came over the comms, a small video feed popping up in the call.

" _Like I have any fucking clue,"_ E replied in a grunt, giving another shake of the head as he walked around the room; a quick peak out of the window gave him glimpses of those armed Special Forces people keeping guard over the hotel, with the ordinary looking police further down the road, keeping the public eye far from view. _"I swear, if any of your soldiers attacked me-"_

" _Do not dare accuse this countries soldiers of such, Foreign Agent. You are walking a very fine line right now; I suggest you think about your next choice of words,"_ the Head interrupted sharply, giving what E thought was a glare at him. Though with the screen so small, he couldn't make it out entirely.

" _Yeah, I get it. Pride and joy of your country, I get it,"_ E grunted, returning to the desk he had left the scroll on; half-expecting it to have rolled back up or to be stolen by some soldier while he was out. His mind wondered to having one of the D-13 medics give him the once over when he found the scroll, still laid out on the table.

" _You do not wish to make an enemy of this country, Agent. After the EMP blast that crippled the American system less than a month ago, the country has been moved to a knife's edge from the drop into oblivion. We can see it, your allies have seen it; even those who wish to see the American People crushed beneath their boot, they've seen the crippled state they try to hide. And, to be frank, I would like to see the children of this country see another day,"_ the Head threatened, and looked as though he was ready to continue if he hadn't been interrupted.

" _Gotta go, I'll keep you updated. Send your nearest unit to Fuji; I'll meet them there,"_ E responded, completely blanking the threat, before cutting off the comm link.

He quickly left the scene, ignoring the slight looks given to him by the troops standing guards. When he was far enough away, he took off in a streak of silver.

* * *

"How did he know to go Fuji?!" the Head demanded after E had cut them off, turning to his subordinates. "The video feed was muted, so how did he gather this information?"

"We are looking into it sir," one of his Agents informed, opening up several new programs. "We are going through the video feed, to see if that can shed any light."

"See to it that you do," the Head hissed, stalking back to his post among the furious clicks and tapping of keyboards and mice.

* * *

" _Those freaks could be anywhere in this country right now. How the hell are we gonna find them before they do something that's gonna fuck this place up?"_

Kyle came to a stop on the latest roof top, pausing for a moment to catch his breath as Tanya moved to the edge of the building. He sat down on a small ventilation unit, rolling his shoulders as he tried to, temporarily at least, relax.

But Tanya didn't seem to follow the same mind-set right now. _"They've got to be here somewhere; I mean, they're Demons! Not exactly easy to miss, one of them being a literal walking suit of armor."_

" _Yeah, and we know the exact extent of their powers and abilities, including the inability to shape-shift on a dime. Again, we've got a great info source."_

She was almost surprised Kyle wasn't asking her to save him from drowning; his sarcasm sounded as thick as concrete. _"Taking lessons from Isaac, are we?"_

All she got was a faint scoff as a response, earning a smirk across her face. She continued, _"Look, there's gotta be something. We were getting a Demon reading from this city in particular; now that we know what that is, do we know what another scan's gonna give us?"_

" _Suppose it's worth another go. I mean, what have we got to lose at this point?"_ Kyle said, bringing his Howler up and gave a few taps to the device. _"Besides, we're gonna get fucked over when word gets out we're in Japan. News channels are gonna have a field day."_

" _You're acting like this is something new for us. If anything, should be more surprised if anything involving any of us gets covered up,"_ Tanya said, coming over to stand beside Kyle, arms folded over her chest. _"They'll take every opportunity to name and shame us."_

" _They've pretty much already done that. The Pax we grew up in? That's gone. The friends we grew up with and worked alongside? Homeless and they hate us. Our families…"_ Kyle paused momentarily, inhaling softly, picking his next words carefully. _"Look, point is, we've left everything behind. Everything about our old lives, that's gone…only thing we can hope for is making a new life after this is all over."_

" _And who's to say that there's even a life after this? Only way out of this that doesn't result in us rotting away in cells for years on end…it's not a good way out,"_ Tanya replied, walking around in a small circle as she spoke. She come to a stop shortly afterwards, sitting down perpendicular to Kyle. She let out a small chuckle, suggesting, _"We could always try here."_

" _After the shit show we've given them so far? I don't think we'll be allowed anywhere near here by nights' end,"_ Kyle responded dryly, earning another chuckle from Tanya. This set him off, the two leaning partially against each other as they shared this laugh.

A small growl from the Howler brought the chuckle to an end, as Kyle brought it back up to get a readout. He stood up, prompting Tanya to follow, as he slowly spun around on the spot; coming to a stop when the growling reached its loudest.

" _The strongest signal is coming from there,"_ Kyle informed, still looking down at the Howler while he pointed forward. Looking up, his pointing arm slowly dipped in realization. _"Near the…top of that…mountain."_

Tanya followed his gaze, and her shoulders slouched when she too came to the same realization. _"Oh come on…"_ she groaned, moving to the edge of the building, as if it would make a real difference in the size of Fuji. _"I mean, yeah, it makes sense; something called the Pillar, and with what they're like, it's gonna be massive. But still…"_ With a faint huff, she finished off with, _"Let's just get this over with. I'll get Isaac."_

Kyle moved to the edge of the building alongside her, Howler still raised as he said, _"I'll meet you there then."_

" _Trust me, I'll run circles around you. Why do you think I'm giving you a head start?"_ Tanya asked, giving a friendly punch to Kyle's shoulder. This earned a surprised grunt from Kyle, and a faint laugh from Tanya as Kyle rubbed his shoulder.

" _Yeah, yeah. See ya at the top,"_ Kyle muttered, giving a final nod before he jumped from the roof. Tanya followed him with her eyes as he landed on one of the lower buildings.

As he moved further and further across the buildings, Tanya raised her Howler and said, _"Isaac, it's Tanya. We've got something,"_ into the comms.

A few seconds of silence followed, before the other end of the comms picked up. _"Got something eh? What's that then?"_ Isaac's voice replied. It took a bit more effort to hear what he was saying than usual, though; there was a low underlying sound throughout the comms. Sounded like…rushing wind? Was he running?

" _Kyle's got a Demon reading coming from that Mount Fuji, we're going to have a look there. You've had any luck so far?"_

" _Well, I think I've got something,"_ Isaac replied, and now Tanya was sure she heard quiet pants between his words. _"I ran back to that museum to have a look around for anything, but those had armed guys surrounding the place. Couldn't get very close. Then guess who I saw coming out of the building?"_ He didn't even give Tanya a chance to reply before answering his own question. _"The Silver Fucker just tore off, and I'm trying to keep up. Wherever he's going, he's gonna get there as fast as he can. I'll let you guys know what happens."_

" _Chances are he's heading to the mountain too. We'll try to get there before you do. Talk then,"_ Tanya replied, quickly cutting the comms as she looked to the distant Mount Fuji. _"Talk about a race to the mountain,"_ she said to herself, taking a small step back before throwing herself off the edge of the building.

Both teens completely unaware of the third figure watching them from the same rooftop; not that the white clothes they wore blended with the night sky all that well.

* * *

" _ **We are here."**_

Batibat wasn't sure of the last time she was thankful to hear such words. While there was no immediate need, she had this sensation of steadily increasing pressure on her shoulders to adhere to her Master's orders. And for a lot longer than she would have liked, it seemed Masutā was taking them on the longest route possible to the Pillar possible. And while the night was still very much alive and quiet, she knew their time until morning was limited.

"We had better be," she hissed, narrowing her eyes at the back of the titan's helmet. Sometimes she wished she _could_ burn holes into this brute's head.

Her intense glare went unnoticed by Masutā, who had lowered to one knee and had one of his hands pressed against the mountainside. His fingers dug through the soil, the earth surrounding him starting to absorb the acidic green energy radiating from the Demon. An exhale came out as Masutā raised his head, the breath coming out as a faint cloud from between his helmet armour plates.

" _ **This world…was so close being ruled under the Master's hand. The humans should have been grateful to live in His shadow; at least then, their wretched existence would have had some merit to it then,"**_ Masutā commented aloud, making a smooth stripe in the otherwise rough surface. He repeated the action twice over, one directly beneath the other. He looked over his shoulder to the she-Demon. _**"Keep a watch for any…intruders. This will take some time."**_

"You had better hurry, Masutā," Batibat snapped, pacing back and forth in her impatience, but also trying to get a look at what the titanic Hand was doing with the cleared patch. But she never got a good view; his broad form blocked all attempts to sneak a look.

No matter.

With a huff, Batibat wondered off, leaving Masutā to his cleared spot and whatever he planned to do. She had spotted humans from a distance on their way to this spot, so that could turn into some fun if they got too nosy. But she knew better than to provoke them; for now, at least, she'd wait.

* * *

 _ **Finally.**_

Masutā inhaled again, taking in the crisp air. Now that his… _replacement_ had left him be, he could actual focus without the constant annoyance that she was hanging over his shoulder. He opened his eyes once again, the acidic green evaporation into the air, as he looked down to the spot he had smoothed down.

With the upmost care, he reached for his side, fingers carefully closed around a dagger handle and pulled it from its sheath; the obsidian blade catching the slowly fading moonlight at just the right angle to make it look a paler metal. However much he may despise the humans, Masutā would give them a single shade of worth; though it may be biased, a curtain…respect for the past was still there.

Many of which he laid the foundation for.

Carefully turning the dagger around, he brought the dagger down so the tip barely grazed the ground. He exhaled slowly, uttering, _**"By the Gaze of the Master, I honor thy land,"**_ as he placed one hand over the butt of the handle, and pressed the dagger into the mountain. Cracks immediately spider-webbed from the initial piercing, an ominous red glow quickly seeping through. With the dagger firmly embedded in place, Masutā leaned back, hands coming to rest on his knees. He rolled his head around his shoulder armour, exhaling as he closed his eyes.

" _ **Through the Master's Hand, I am His Sword; through Him, I strike down those He deems unworthy of His Rule."**_

As his chant continued, the red light emitting from the cracks started to move; jagged lines coming together, to form lines of strange words; from a tongue long since lost.

" _ **Through the Master's Eye, I am His Rage; striking Death and Damnation in those who dare stand against Him."**_

The letters started to become clearer and more defined, the right glow started to snake its way further from the cracks. Like serpents, they wrapped around the Demon's wrist; slowly tightening until taut.

" _ **Through the Master's Sanctuary, I am His Key; through His Doors, I will guide this world from the Darkness of Zeta, and into His Light."**_

His eyes snapped open, and his hands clutched the light wrapped around his wrists. With a faint grunt, his arms outstretched, taking what little slack remained out and pulling the strands of, now solid, light with him. The writing split directly in the middle, cracking the earth again as it opened up.

The red glow came out in force, reflecting off of Masutā's armour. It met his eye, a deadly cocktail of acidic green and demented red.

" _ **Soon, my Master…Soon You will rule again."**_

 **To Be Continued...**

* * *

 **Here's part two for you guys! I was hopeful to give you guys another update before the New Year, so here we are! Hopefully, I'll get the next part out ASAP.**

 **Hope ya'll have a Happy New Year!**

 **Nf991 signing out.**


	23. Episode 22 - The God's Hand, Part 3

Episode 22 – The God's Hand, Part 3

E threw himself up the rest of the building, landing with a resounding _thud_ that was sure to echo throughout the facility; luckily, it seemed that anyone in the vicinity was either asleep or not paying attention. A short walk across the width of the roof brought him to the opposite edge, crouching down as he looked over the edge. With the night beginning to draw to a close, the first traces of orange and red beginning to blend with the distant black sky.

But with how illuminated they had made this station, he would expect most to think it was midday. E took a deep inhale of air, his filters working harder than usual to get him a good amount for how high they currently were.

Now he had a good look of the area, E brought a hand up and tapped the side of his helmet; his HUD picking up on the pulse echoing from him and over the surroundings. He did a slow visual scan of the area, turning his head as more pulses rhythmically came out. _"Scanning the area now; send the units to my location when I locate them,"_ he said into his comms, not waiting long enough to confirm the order went through before cutting off. Just as one blip from the call sounded, another followed.

Bingo.

" _Got a lock on something,"_ he uttered, slowly rising to his feet as he looked up to the point of interest. It looked as though it was halfway up the mountain, at the bare minimum. He walked to the edge of the roof and was about to le-

" _Oi!"_

E turned sharply at the voice, only to be greeted with a uppercut to his helmets' chin. The force sent him flying backwards, clearing the roof and sunk through the air; only coming to rest with a painful landing in a newly formed crater in the concrete. And if no-one had heard him landing on the roof earlier, they _definitely_ heard or saw his impact on the ground. He groaned lowly as he tried pulling himself free of the crater.

Only to have a sudden weight land square on his chest, forcing every last ounce of breath; and with the sudden pain forming in his chest, E saw another visit to the infirmary at HQ in the foreseeable future.

Right now, however, the only thing he saw was a fist bearing down on him. At the last second, he managed to jerk his head to the side. Enough to avoid a direct hit, but it still grazed the side of his visor with the punch to the concrete. He went to return it with a punch of his own, but found he couldn't move either of his arms.

" _Nice try, fucker."_

It finally clicked with E on who it was; he hadn't caught the red armour in the brief flashes he had glimpsed at, but it was the voice more than anything else that gave it away. Despite the verbal encryption, he could still make out the British…tint to his malice tone.

His thoughts were interrupted once again, when another punch landed square in the middle of his visor; throwing his head back into the concrete. Another two punches came at him before he had a chance to process the first one entirely. By the fourth punch, E tasted blood over his lips and found one of his eyes twitching to get something-he suspected blood-out of it.

" _I've got this guy. You two go on ahead!"_

He hadn't heard other voices over the ringing in his ears, but by the tone and slight pause between the sentences gave E enough suspicion. And from the words, he had a pretty good idea who he was talking to. The final nail in the suspicion coffin was the sound of air snapping echoing out; two sets, it sounded like, almost simultaneously.

' _They know where to go as well,'_ E thought to himself, looking around the width of his visor as he took in all the info the HUD presented to him; numerous small contusions across his face were detected-and felt-along with more pressure being applied to his wrists and chest area.

Wait a minute.

If E hadn't been in the situation he was in, he'd kick the shit out of himself.

He clenched one of his fists, activating the energy sword; it jutted out and took form. It missed the knee of the Red Ranger, though, as he moved out of the way just in time. Now freed, E quickly pulled the rest of his body up and out of the hole he formed. As he brought himself up to his feet, small chunks of rubble that came with him falling off, E made sure to keep an close eye on the Red Ranger before him; he'd need to keep from turning his back on this bastard.

" _Getting the drop on me ain't that easy, so I'll give you that, punk,"_ E commented sarcastically, shifting into a better fighting stance as he activated the other blade. _"But you clearly overestimate yourself; how about I show you what it really feels like to get hurt?"_

" _Funny. I was about to say the same thing to you,"_ Isaac responded, fists raised up and brought close to his body; ready to take on an offensive or defensive stance at the drop of a hat.

A small huff of frustration came from E as he and Isaac circled one another; neither taking eyes off the other as they moved, step by step.

" _You really don't understand the full scale or consequences of what you're doing, do you?"_ E questioned, glancing from side to side for a split second. His eyes were quick to return to Isaac's visor, however, and kept up the stare as he continued, _"The list of crimes you're going to be held accountable for is an impressive one; Al-Qaeda would be jealous, if they gave a damn. But you…"_

E paused, both in voice and movement, as he came to stand before one of the glass walls of the Station stores. _"You are well within our jurisdiction. Even with your…foreign origins."_

"… _How much do you know about me then?"_ Isaac questioned, fists briefly relaxing in shock, but were quick to tense back up as he took a threatening step forward. _"How much?!"_

" _Huff and puff all you want, you're not going to get anywhere with it,"_ E commented, eyes rolling beneath the visor. He turned his head a fraction, his suit picking something up, before a small smirk tugged at his lips. _"You are, however, definitely making yourself look worse to these people."_

Isaac would have thrown an insult back at the Silver Ranger, but in the moment that he tried thinking of one, the words got through and the silence lingered the more the words echoed around his head. It took him a few seconds, but he finally tore his eyes away from E.

Finally seeing the multiple eyes watching him.

He took a small step back from the realization that several people, tourists and natives alike, were watching the pair; apparently, throwing E into the ground and kicking the shit out of him was enough to wake them up. And the look in their eyes was something that sent a small shiver down the length of his back. A terrorized look; a cocktail of emotions mixing in their shaken gaze.

" _You think you're saving the world. Let me break it to you."_

A punch came out of nowhere, striking Isaac in the jaw and sending him flying through the air. An unfortunately placed car acted as his cushion; the doors warping against his sudden impact. The alarm blared in the background, as Isaac tried recovering from the attack. But the sound of electrical sparking kept him still. He slowly looked down, finding an energy blade held far too close for comfort. He followed the blade up, giving a dirty glare to E, the Silver Ranger moving the blade an inch closer.

" _You're saving YOUR world; while destroying theirs in the process,"_ E spat, jerking his head towards the onlookers as he pushed the blade a fraction closer; between the car and blade, any escape routes were effectively cut off. He slowly crouched down, maintaining the blade's place as he got eye level with the slouched Ranger. Slowly, he leaned forward, the fingers beneath the blade slowly clenching and unclenching.

" _You Rangers have ended so many worlds; cut so many lives short. Have any of you ever taken a moment, to stop and think about all those you've killed; so much potential, cut short by your actions. They deserved to live so much more than you."_

E's free hand shot forward, grabbing a hold of the Red helmet, forcing the jaw up slightly. He leaned in closer, the blade moving threateningly closer to Isaac's now exposed neck. One of his hands tried to ply E's hand from his helmet, but it was like an iron clasp was attached to his helmet.

" _So many of the fallen would want nothing more, than to see you bleed out,"_ E continued, his voice dialling back a fraction, as he steadily moved the blade closer. Isaac tried struggling more, but E moved the blade closer still, quickly forcing him to stop any movement as the energized edge skimmed his neck armour. _"You fight for your own survival, but are willing to let others take your place in death. Some Red Ranger."_

Isaac's glare hardened at that jab, a low snarl forced its way through his throat.

The two were interrupted, however, by the sound of several engines roaring closer and bright lights coming into view. E looked around as the two were surrounded by vehicles, tires screeching to a halt and lights aimed at them; doors opening and the occupants jumping out before the vehicles had completely stopped.

"Agent!"

With a grunt of frustration, E shoved Isaac back against the car and stood up, deactivating his weapons as an armoured-up person came up to him. In the background, E heard several guns armed and loaded, and out of the corner of his eye, saw several of the armed people close in on the Red Ranger.

" _Next time, I suggest you wait a few seconds longer,"_ E hissed, jabbing the man's chest with several hard prods; each one forcing him back a small step. And knowing that he outgunned them several times over, E knew he could get away with this. Judging by the glare given by the man, he had the same thoughts.

"We can handle the situation from here. It appears you know where to go."

E spared one last glance over his shoulder, seeing the Red Ranger had wisely decided to stay put, for now at least. He turned back to the one talking to him, now silently gesturing for him to go. An offer E reluctantly took, and slowly walked around one of the trucks-

"Agent. The scroll."

The call behind him made him pause momentarily, throwing another look over his shoulder; this time, directed at the solider. With the addition of a 'hand it over' gesture, E rolled his eyes as he reached into the compartment, fishing out the ancient scroll.

He spied another soldier walking in his direction, though his attention was directed to the lead soldier behind him. As he passed him, E moved his hand out abruptly; knocking the wind out of the guy, while simultaneously handing him the scroll. The man glared daggers at E, though only saw his reflection in the visor, as E gave him the 'go on' gesture with a flick of the head.

And without a word, E left; disappearing in a streak of silver, nearly knocking the man over with the resulting shockwave. He regained his balance, however, and quickly made his way over to the lead soldier. Uttering a curse under his breath as he reached the lead, handing over the scroll.

* * *

" _OK, should be around here somewhere. Not gonna be something we can really miss, is it?"_

" _Well, with you guiding us, we're bound to overlook it,"_ Tanya responded with a sarcastic eye roll, the pair quickly coming to a walking pace up the side of Fuji. Kyle leading the way, Howler raised up and performing slow sweeps of the area.

" _Y'know, you're gonna really hurt someone with that sarcasm of yours one day, Tanya. You're only lucky I've known you for this long,"_ Kyle responded, turning around fully, while walking backwards up the mountain. He gave a shake of his head and looked down to his Howler again. _"We're getting pretty close, keep an eye out for anything suspicious."_

Tanya looked over Kyle's shoulder, and gestured behind him. _"Then you better turn around or you're gonna fall right into it."_

He was about to ask her what she meant by that, but took her advice and, while still walking back, turned around. This brought him to a sudden stop, stumbling after nearly tripping over an upturned rock. _"Yep…that'll be it."_

The two carefully drew closer, bashing in the red glow radiating from the frame in the mountainside. Like someone had cut a rectangle from the surface, and revealed the hellish imagery that apparently lay beneath. Distant sounds came from within the frame, but so many overlapped one another that it just resulted in a constant noise.

They exchanged looks, between themselves and back to the portal before them. _"Reckon we should wait for Isaac?"_ Tanya asked, looking back down the mountain briefly. But when she turned back, she found she no longer was facing Kyle.

" _Isaac can handle himself; for all we know, that Bitch and Samurai are probably already have whatever the Pillar is. Best bet; we get in there, and hope for the best,"_ Kyle said, quickly approaching the portal in the ground. He lingered momentarily as he stood at the base, hands twitching into fists as he breathed slowly.

Just as he was about to step forward, he felt the presence of Tanya step up beside him. He glanced across, smirking beneath his helmet as Tanya seemed to return it along with a slight shoulder nudge. _"You really think I'm going to let you walk in there alone?"_ she asked, turning back to face the portal. _"I've got your back."_

" _Don't you always?"_ Kyle asked rhetorically, turning his own eyes back to the portal. The two lingered a second longer, and finally, they took the final step forward.

" _I would stop right there if I were you."_

The new voice startled them enough to take a step back from the portal and turn sharply, quickly taking fighting stances. Upon seeing the silver-clad Ranger standing a short distance from them, it only made them stick to those stances all the more.

" _How the fuck did you get here? Better yet, how the fuck did you know to come here?!"_ Tanya shouted, going to take a threatening step forward. She probably would have continued all the way to stand toe-to-toe with the Silver Ranger, had Kyle hadn't grabbed her shoulder.

" _You're getting the same answer I gave that Red Ranger of yours,"_ E responded, making a mental note of how Tanya tried going for him again. Only this time, Kyle found it more of a struggle to hold her back long enough to calm her down. _"You're not getting one."_

" _Look, this bullshit is pointless,"_ Kyle said, shoving himself between Tanya and the Silver Ranger, ensuring the two were kept at bay. _"Right now, God only knows what is happening in there. We don't know, and I'll bet anything you lot have nothing on it. But if those Demons do…whatever it is that they're going to do, it's gonna end up with all of us dead."_

" _Your point?"_ Tanya questioned, still glancing suspiciously at the Silver Ranger standing a short distance away. Still far too close for her.

" _If you are quiet done attempting to make a rousing speech-"_

E surged forward before he gave himself a chance to finish, a shade of electric blue mixing with the silver streak as he activated his blades. He pushed off of the ground at the last second, launching himself into the air and brought his weapons down on the teens.

But he didn't catch them off guard, though he wasn't banking on doing so. As such, he brought his blades across one another, blocking their own attack upon clashing. Upon landing, he dug his boots into the dirt, forming a solid base to press the defensive attack.

Energy blades sparked and sizzled against the yellow and black-tinted blades of the Warriors, keeping them from reaching the wielders. Both groups pushed against the other, never getting more than a few inches before getting pushed back; the stalemate moving back and forth a few times.

Tanya was the first to finally break the stall, landing a solid kick to E's abdomen. The force sent E stumbling back two steps, allowing all three to readjust their battle stance. The three remained momentarily still, as if trying to goad the other to attacking first.

E made the next move, rushing forward and kicked up a cloud of dirt and rock with one of his blades. Tanya stepped back to avoid the cloud, while Kyle stepped forward and rolled into the cloud, making E miss him entirely. As E flew over Kyle and landed on the ground between the two Warriors, Tanya rushed forward, blade outstretched to the side and ready to bring it back across. And she would have landed the hit on E's helmet, had one of his blades not come up to block it.

She brought her blade back, the two exchanging quick blows back and forth; Tanya ducking and flipping over E's precise strikes. For the most part, only small scratches across her armour's surface was all the damage dealt. It was only through a trick that E landed a serious blow.

Tanya had gone to strike down on one of his blades, only to have the blade disappear back into its port the second they were about to connect. Without the blade, Tanya's strike went all the way to the ground, with the momentum of her downward swing bringing her down with it. At just the right level for E's fist to connect with very little effort. She was sent flying backwards, the punch separating herself and her Blade, and landed with an uncomfortable _thud_ a short distance up the mountain.

" _Tanya!"_

E turned and barely back-stepped in time to dodge another punch to his visor. Kyle closed in quickly, his movements rapid and forceful, as though he was trying to remove E's head from his shoulders with a single punch. And from past experience, E knew not to give him a chance.

Kyle gave a swing of his own blade, but it found E's hand and wouldn't come back to him, no matter how much he pulled. E ripped it from Kyle's grip, and tossed it aside. He turned back after throwing the blade, and quickly side-stepped to avoid a flying kick. Kyle landed and turned to face E, and the two slowly circled one another.

" _Kyle, isn't it?"_ E questioned, stopping in his steps as he spoke up. He noticed how the Black Warrior stopped in his own tracks, and seemed to tense up. He continued, _"Kyle Colon. Pax Valley born-and-bred. You've got a pretty clear record; why throw your lot in with the likes of these people?"_

" _You know jack-shit about me,"_ Kyle snarled back, fists clenching in anger. He rushed forward, throwing a punch, only to hit air as E side stepped and pushed him further, nearly making him trip up over his own feet. As he recovered, E continued.

" _We know enough about you, as well as the others. Well, except that Red Ranger of yours. His government seems reluctant to release any information about him. Don't suppose you'd be wil-Oof!"_

He was thrown back by Tanya, coming up behind him and grabbing him by the waist. With a snarl of effort, she managed to lift him clear off the ground, over her shoulder and brought him down on his head; all while fighting E's attempts to free himself. As he recovered in the dirt, Tanya moved back towards Kyle. Though not before 'accidently' delivering a boot to his armoured groin.

" _How long have you been holding that one in for?"_ Kyle questioned, quickly jogging over to grab his and Tanya's Blades.

" _Long enough for you to forget,"_ Tanya replied, hand raised to catch her Blade as it was casually thrown to her. Now armed again, she turned to look at the portal-the entire reason why they were here in the first place-and looked across to E. He had made progress, but was still only on his hands and knees. _"He's not going to stay down forever. If we're going through, we've got to do it now."_

" _Right,"_ Kyle nodded, he too looking between the recovering Silver Ranger and the crackling portal. The two moved to stand alongside one another, and gave each other a silent nod of agreement. Shifting into pre-running stances, the two took off, a mixture of black, yellow and silver-accented streaks in the short distance. The streaks were stopped abruptly, upon them entering the portal; the surface rippling and crackling energy upon their entry.

As the surface began to settle, E finally pushed himself to one knee, breathing slowly as he faced the portal. _"Oh you're not getting away that easily,"_ he uttered, pushing himself all the way to his feet and gave his shoulders a quick role each. A second later, he took off in a streak of silver, shooting right into the portal and disappearing in an instant.

* * *

The lead soldier finished speaking with a couple of his subordinates, gesturing for them to return to their position, while he walked away. Under his orders, three of the Jeeps were positioned to form three-sides of square in an attempt to block any lingering public eyes. Granted, he had given the order to remove any civilians from the immediate area; not that that meant anything to some people, it seemed.

He walked around one of the sides, coming up to the number of soldiers standing at attention. He paused in front of them, giving them a nod to stand at ease. "I'm going to speak with him," he stated, looking between the two on either side of him. And it wasn't easy to ignore the weary looks they exchanged, despite their balaclava concealing most of their expression.

"Sir, no disrespect…but is that the wisest thing to do?" one of the soldier piped up, quickly ducking his gaze when the head soldier turned to him.

"Given what we know, perhaps it's not the wisest move to make. However, given our experience with this Foreign Agent, I think it best to gather our own intel before he returns for him," the Commanding soldier answered, receiving instinctive nods of disciplined agreement, followed by the soldiers standing aside, revealing what they were guarding.

" _Didn't know I got visitation rights,"_ Isaac grunted, shifting his back against one of the Jeeps; wrists trying to flex against the handcuffs, resting on his lap. His helmet was tilted partially to the side, favouring one shoulder; turns out that Silver Ranger could throw. And throw _hard._

"I would apologise for the Agent's…brutish methods, but considering your own colorful records, and the fact that he is not under our authority, I like to think the proper precautions were taken," the Officer stated, taking a cautious step forward, as the soldiers keeping guard turned around, guns partially raised. "But what I am more curious about, however, is the fact that you are still here."

" _And why does that interest you, Spring Roll?"_ Isaac questioned, leaning forward slightly, lifting his head up.

Ignoring the comment, the Commander continued, "Because you and I both know you could easily break those handcuffs without a second thought, and escape in the blink of an eye. A number of bodies across the ground seemed to have become a calling card of sorts."

"So," he continued, crouching down so he was eye level with the visor, "why don't you tell me what brought you to Fuji?"

Isaac exhaled slowly, letting his head fall limp to one shoulder as a rough chuckle passed through the voice-modifier. _"That Silver guy clearly knew where he was going…didn't he tell you?"_

The Commander tightened his jaw, and glanced over his shoulder at the soldiers standing behind him. Isaac followed their eyes and silent exchanges, and beneath his helmet, a smirk formed. _"Oh….he hasn't told you either, huh?"_

"Sir," another soldier stepped up to the area, interrupting the Commander from responding to Isaac. He turned to look at the new soldier, and after glancing back to Isaac's relaxed form one last time, rose to his feet and walked off with this new soldier, leaving the guards to fall back into place.

As the leader walked out of normal ear shot, Isaac leaned back against the car door. With the soldiers' backs to him, he turned his head partially, closing his eyes. He focused, zoning in on the smell, and sounds, from the two; though letting his mind wander a little, giving him a good idea of what the others were uttering under their breath.

Even if it was in Japanese, they weren't sounding nice.

He focused back in on the two, and while he was straining a bit harder with the background noise of the countless civilians beyond the soldiers, he managed to get a lock on the pair.

"Sir, we have lost communications with the Foreign Agent. Our intelligence suggests it has nothing to do with any sort of weather or terrain interference," the informant said, the pair coming to a stop when, they thought, they were far enough away. "They suggest it to be something else."

The Commander sucked on his teeth briefly, giving a small glance over his shoulder, and saw a glimpse of red behind the line of soldiers. One of his hands found the informant's shoulder, and slowly guided the pair of them a few steps further, despite the odd look the informant gave him.

"What was the last report we got from him before losing contact?" he asked, now a much further distance away from the Jeeps, and closer to the soldiers stationed to keep any civilians away.

" _He reported having the location for the Black and Yellow Rangers, and he was picking up this…he described it as strange, reading."_

Isaac exhaled slowly as he eavesdropped in, head twisting to the side a fraction further as the voices fell out of range. Even with the soldiers' backs to him, he could tell what they were thinking. The subtle movements; gloved fingers rubbing against one another, the quiet twitch of triggers moving a fraction.

Then there was the uttering under their breath, though he paid that little mind; couldn't understand them even if he wanted to.

" _-ere was his last location?"_ he focused back in on those two, even though they were out of sight.

" _His last known location was two kilometres from two markers up. After that, the receptor started to get fuzzy."_

He exhaled slowly, facing straight ahead again. His fingers flexed slowly, clenching into fists as he uttered, _"Fuck this…"_

The Commander was about to reply, when he was abruptly interrupted by what sounded like a massive explosion. The nearby civilians shouted and screamed in panic, as he and the informant turned to the source.

The Jeeps had been tossed aside, as if mere toys, and came crashing back down onto wheels again; the middle truck had completed a full flip and a half, a massive dent in one side. Windows smashed and frames warped. The soldiers fared no better; cuts and bruises aplenty, barely dodging shrapnel. One unlucky soldier was shouting in agony, bloody hand grasping the shrapnel lodged in his shoulder.

As medics quickly rushed in and the rest of the soldiers scrambled to control the situation, the Commander slowly moved in, zoning in on the one point of interest to him right now. The shouts from the informant were muted, pushed to the back of his mind as he came to a stop beyond the downed soldiers.

"Tawagoto," he uttered under his breath, looking up the side of the mountain. His expression scrunched up into a scowl as the tail-end of a red streak climbed higher and higher; even in the poorly-lit conditions, it stood out like a sore thumb. He quickly backed up, dodging the rushing medics, and wrenched open the door of a Jeep still right-side up. He reached across to the central console and grabbed the radio.

"All units, be advised! Terrorist threat has escaped, located on Fuji! Exact location to follow," he said into the radio, fighting to keep from shouting the information down the wire. He threw the radio back, smacking it against the console as he turned around. He ran slow hand through his hair, giving a sudden shout of frustration as he turned back and gave a solid kick to the door. Another pair of kicks followed, leaving boot marks on the abused décor, before slamming the door shut as a final blow.

* * *

" _OK…gotta be the closest I've ever been to taking drugs."_

Tanya threw a look over her shoulder as Kyle spoke aloud. While she didn't respond verbally, she mentally agreed with her friend. This…was definitely something out there.

Jagged crystals jutted out at every direction and angle; barely holding the form of the archway the pair were walking along. A vibrant blood red glow radiated from every crystal's surface, showering the two Warriors in the crimson light. The 'light' stretched down to the farthest visible point of the path, and possible further still. _'How much further can this go on for?'_ Tanya asked herself.

" _Whatever this place really is, let's just get this over and done with. They're probably already at the Pillar,"_ Tanya finally responded, giving a slight jerk of her head, that told Kyle only one thing. Try to keep up.

He was, there for, ready when Tanya took off, running right alongside her; strangely enough, they weren't traveling fast enough to bring out their trails of colour behind them. Not that either of them paid that detail any attention though. They were far more interested in not stabbing themselves accidently on any crystal that jutted out of place…or rather, _more so_ out of place.

Finally, the narrow cavern came to an end. And, as Kyle almost found it, it ended with a sheer edge. If Tanya hadn't grabbed him and pulled him back onto solid 'ground', he would have known just how much of a drop it was.

" _Thanks,"_ he said, looking around slowly at the apparent void before them. The odd shard of crystal was visibly floating through the air, but apart from several of these spread out, it seemed empty. _"What the hell kind of place is this?"_

" _Belly of the beast?"_ Tanya asked rhetorically, giving a slight shrug as she too looked around. _"Now, we just need to find that Bitch and the Samurai and then-"_

"And then what?"

The pair shifted into fighting stances at the new, but familiar, voice echoing around the chamber. They looked up when the she-Demon descended into view, carefully coming to rest when she was level with the Warriors; slowly, she rose to her full height, daggers drawn. As if the dagger-like glare she threw at the pair wasn't enough. "How did _you_ enter this realm?"

" _Kinda easy when you leave the front door open,"_ Tanya retorted, fingers flexing back and forth in the fists. Despite her focus remaining on the she-Demon, she allowed a few lances here and there at their surroundings. _"So this is the Pillar? Lot more…crystal-y than I would have thought."_

Batibat's glare flattered momentarily, fists clenching up; one of her daggers slipping free of her sleeve, managing to catch it at the last second. But a small, forced smirk was pushed onto her face. "Well…perhaps you meat-sacks are more intelligence than I give you credit for; if, only slightly."

Her empty hand raised up, and her palm opened up.

The rumbling beneath their feet caught the pair's attention, and they looked around. The walls suddenly didn't seem as constricting as before…They were spread out, tripling their width as Tanya and Kyle looked all around to keep up to date with their unfamiliar surroundings. _"How the hell's she doing that?"_ Kyle questioned, slowly drawing his Wolf Blade into a defensive position.

"We are the Hands of the Master. We forged our World, and in time, we will re-forge your World once again," Batibat responded, both hands now outstretched as the expansion came to a stop. That smug smirk dancing across her pale skin, both hands snapped fingers.

Simultaneously with swords slipping from her sleeves and into her hands, a pair of portals opened. Their formation created less of a tear, more of a ripple, as Wolkeins piled out, each in various stages of having weapons drawn.

Tanya was the first to engage the attackers, deflecting one attack and slammed the sharpened end through a Wolkeins' head. Its body slumped to the ground as she pulled back, ducking and kicked one attacker to the ground. One tried kicking at her, but before it had the chance to bring his leg out straight, she slammed the knee back. The force sent the soldier down, its head jerking up to make up for the sudden difference in height.

And was greeted with the creation of a new, narrow eye hole.

Kicking the body the rest of the way down, Tanya turned and went on to the next foot soldier.

Across the crimson-soaked room, Kyle elbowed a Wolkein in the stomach, making it stagger and lean forward; allowing him to role across its back, kicking back a pair of daggers aiming to strike him upon landing. Finishing it off with an elbow to the face, Kyle swerved to avoid a swinging dagger, barely scratching the surface of his shoulder, and returned it with a well-aimed strike across the throat.

A lucky right-hook caught him off guard, knocking him to the ground as his Blade slid just out of reach. He rolled and dived out of the way of most swinging hits, and tried reaching for his Blade.

His fingers grazed the handle…and a heeled boot rested on the flat, reflective surface. He looked up, and barely dodged the other heel to the eye. He rolled aside, dodging Batibat's stomps, eventually jumping back to his feet as Batibat kicked back his Blade.

Giving a slow exhale, Kyle brought his fists up close, flexing his fingers. _"I'm gonna rip that smug grin off your fucking face."_

Across, Batibat merely smirked and brought her dagger out, twirling it between her fingers. "If that is all you've come here to do, then consider it a wasted trip," she responded, tauntingly, as she gripped the dagger and charged forward.

Kyle dodged most of her attacks, and deflected those that he could. One sliced down his forearm, lighting up sparks as Kyle twisted to keep the intended target-his neck, if he had to guess-and used his momentum, and threw a rolling punch at the she-Demon.

And while she effortlessly dodged the punch, the momentum allowed her to push herself back, widening the distance between the two of them.

Breathing a fraction heavier than normal, Kyle shifted back into stance and got ready to fight again. But even as he brought his fists up, something nagged at the back of his mind. Something seemed…off. Batibat, even in a fight as short as this, would have been throwing every attack she could at them; no-where near as many were sent at him during this one to what she usually did. Then there was the distances she made, despite her apparent-according to Isaac-preference for going in for the kill to get it done with.

Then it hit him.

" _Where is he?"_ he demanded, taking a few threatening steps forward. _"That Samurai-wannabe. Where the hell is he?"_

All he got was a smirk in response, followed by a small hand gesture. 'Come'.

The sound of something cutting through the air tipped him off, and he turned around. The dagger skimmed the side of his helmet, the Wolkein only managing to lean another scratch across the side of the visor. It was enough for Kyle to become momentarily stunned, falling to the ground. The Wolkein briefly gained the upper hand, standing over Kyle and ready to strike the final blow.

Though his vision was still slightly blurred, Kyle made out enough to see what was going on; bringing his forearms up and across his face to block the attack.

It raised the dagger, ready to bring it down, when its body went rigid and the dagger fell loose, landing beside Kyle. The Wolkein looked down as Kyle unobscured his view, both of them spotting the weapon tip lodged through its chest. A grunt sounded out behind the Wolkein, and Kyle just rolled out of the way as it crumpled to the ground.

" _Am I always gonna have to save your ass?"_ Tanya asked rhetorically, grabbing Kyle's extended hand and helping him back onto his feet. All while she kept facing Batibat, shifting into a fighting stance as Kyle shifted back into one of his own. _"Now where is he?"_ she demanded, twisting her Blade around to point it at Batibat.

But she just rolled her eyes and scoffed, flicking her free hand to open portals throughout the ground; taking in all the fallen Wolkein bodies, leaving only herself and the two Warriors. "You fight for a world that doesn't want you to be a part of it. Why is that?"

" _Maybe because we happen to fucking live here,"_ Tanya snapped back.

"And yet, you suffer the threat of destruction from your own kind."

" _You're more than willing to do the same,"_ Kyle pointed out bluntly.

"Myself, and other Demons, are merely defending our _home_ from the human paras-" Batibat stopped herself, mulling over her words for a few seconds before a small, sickly smirk twitched the corner of her lip. "From the human _threat._ But you…"

The she-Demon took a few steps closer, only pausing momentarily when the Warriors threatened to spring forward. When they remained in place, she took another couple of steps. "You Warriors…are different from the regular humans. You have strength and will, fighting for what you think is your world and birth right. But…you fight, both for a species that doesn't care for you, and a species that is all but extinct."

Batibat paused a few feet from the two teens, looking between the two. Tanya was still ready to spear the she-Demon right through the gut, should she even hint at something she didn't like at all. But…surely it was the red glow radiating from everywhere, messing with her eyes in some way…she didn't see that particular shade of malice laced into her ever-present glare.

She gave a quick shake of her head, banishing that thought from her mind before it had any chance to linger. _'Yeah right,'_ Tanya thought bitterly, tightening her grip on her weapon.

" _There some kind of point you're getting at?"_ Kyle asked, a slight helmet twitch towards Tanya before returning his glare to the she-Demon.

Batibat looked from Tanya to Kyle, and between the two a few times. Her eyes flicked up for the briefest moment, and a small smirk appeared across her lips. Yet there was an absent of something…excessive smugness, perhaps?

"I'm giving you the opportunity to join us."

Both Tanya and Kyle's eyes widened at this statement, exchanging a quick look of disbelief with one another. Seeing this, Batibat pressed the matter.

"Join us, and you will rule alongside us as Gods of the Master's New World. Rule over what remains of your species, respected and feared. Like Warriors of your calibre shou-Oomph!"

Tanya and Kyle both leaped back at the sudden blur tackling Batibat, and as Kyle ran to retrieve his weapon, Tanya got a good look at what the blur was.

" _What the fuck are you doing here?!"_ she demanded, as the Silver Ranger was thrown off of Batibat, and across the 'room'.

Blades activated and dug into the surface, E quickly brought himself to a stop and picked himself up into a fighting stance. _"She's distracting you, isn't that clear enough?"_ E questioned harshly, as he focused the rest of his attention on the slowly rising Batibat. _"Or are you two already blinded by your arrogance?"_

" _Oh,_ we're _the arrogant ones?!"_ Tanya shouted, wanting nothing more than to walk right up to the Silver Ranger and knock him out. But she knew that right here, surrounded by this Demon place and the Demon inhabitants, wasn't exactly the best time to have a pissing contest.

But by God, this guy felt almost worth it.

E seemed to follow the same mind-set, as he kept another argumentative comment down and cautiously watched as Batibat prowled back and forth.

" _A pocket dimension, if I had to hazard a guess,"_ E commented, sparing a brief glance around at the red-glow radiating from each of the crystals embedded in the walls. _"Two separate locations occupying the same place; just different planes overlapping one another. In any case, Mount Fuji is just an unassuming mountain. But with a crack made between the two planes…"_

"The Realm of my Master occupies your world. You humans just don't notice it," Batibat hissed back, eyeing E up and down like a piece of meat. A piece of rotten, fly-swarmed human flesh.

" _It'd be hard to ignore when you're probably gonna be blinded by red light,"_ Tanya blurted out, ignoring the glare Kyle was giving her under his helmet. _"Like a fucking stop sign in your face constantly."_

" _I'm sure that mouth of yours has gotten you out of a few situations before this, and I'm_ sure _you've got a few things you think you can bring to the table,"_ E finally let the sarcastic edge to his voice loose. _"But right now, I suggest what you bring is silence."_

Tanya looked ready to respond-whether it was with harsh words, or violent strikes that much was unclear-but held back when she thought she heard something.

As she turned around slowly, looking around for the source, E continued to question Batibat.

" _Now, you're going to explain what the purpose of this place is, and tell me what the deal is with stealing that Samurai armour,"_ E instructed, fingers flexing as the blades extending from his forearms _hmm'_ d with energy, contrasting greatly with their red surroundings.

A short period of silence followed, only to be harshly broken from a sinister cackle from the she-Demon. That same look of malice returned in the form of a smirk on Batibat's lips, her acidic cat-like eyes watching E with what could only be a sliver of amusement.

"Well…why ask me, when you could simply ask him yourself?" she questioned, extending one hand forward to point above E and the teens.

At this, E cocked his head to the side, apprehensive as to the tone she used, and turned his gaze upward.

" _Shit!"_ he explained, acting quickly to avoid getting crushed beneath the giant, falling form.

" _Tanya, get back!"_ Kyle exclaimed, grabbing her forearm and pulled both of them back a few steps; despite being a supposedly safe distance away, who knew what sort of rules this place had?

The impact cracked the crystal surface, extending far from where Masutā initially struck the ground, rising from his kneel. Bringing himself up to his full height, the titan of a Demon turned from facing Batibat, to look between the three humans.

" **Humans? In the Masters' Realm?"** he questioned, booming voice echoing in the cavern as his acidic eyeholes narrowed, one hand coming to grip the handle of his katana. The smallest section of blade was pulled from the sheath, the toxic-green smoke pouring out. **"You bring the Master great dishonour with your mere presence in His domain."**

E looked the living suit of armour up and down slowly, mindful of how much of the Demon's sword was revealed. _"So…pieces are starting to fit into place now. This place is the reason she came here-whatever purpose this serves-yet she must have required you, otherwise she would have taken the armour from the museum and taken you to Fuji."_

" _So, what makes you so special, that this Demon needed to…what, bring you back to life?"_ E further questioned, defensive stance relaxing the slightest bit as his questioning went on. Not that he was expecting to get any straight answers.

" **We are Hands of the Master. Your world will be moulded to the Master's needs, and we are the crafters,"** Masutā informed, pulling his katana out completely, gripping the handle with both hands as the demonic smoke billowed from the metal. Slowly, the blade was pointed from E, to Kyle and Tanya. **"But the Warriors of Zeta have no place in my Master's world. You** _ **humans**_ **have no place in my Master's true world."**

" **For that reason, and many others,"** Masutā continued, bringing his sword up into a battle stance, the green glow of his sword reflecting off the metal plating of his helmet and mask.

" **You must die."**

E's eyes narrowed into a glare as he re-established the defensive hold of his blades, his scans providing him with all the information they could. But it appeared, in this realm, his equipment wasn't working to its absolute best; the edge of all the charts and scans were fuzzy, and even the standard image showed signs of static.

He paid these little mind, though, as he shifted his stance into one ready to rush in. _"Then you better give it your best shot."_

The eye holes formed from Masutā's _menp_ _ō_ and _kabuto_ narrowed into a scowl, forcing more green smoke from the corners, and brought his sword up close to his body. He twisted the blade slowly, the red light catching the metal just right to highlight the full length of the weapon.

" _Shit's about to go down,"_ Kyle whispered to Tanya.

" _Yeah, clearly,"_ she replied, throwing a look over her shoulder to her friend.

" _Uh…I was talking about us,"_ Kyle said, pointing ahead of the pair.

Tanya cocked an eyebrow and turned back around. A sudden shout escaped her as she moved to the side abruptly, it almost hitting her what Kyle meant. The two barely dodged the strike from Batibat, her blade lodging itself into the floor. Kyle went in for an attack, but a knee to the gut, followed by a swift set of kicks to the chest, sent him flying backwards.

As he recovered, Tanya managed to dodge another kick from the she-Demon and countered one of her punches with a strike of her own to Batibat's side. The she-Demon staggered back a few steps, holding her side, yet that sinister smirk was plastered across her face. She quickly charged back in, forcing Tanya back with every dodged attack.

As the two kept up their deadly dance and Kyle recovered, Masutā had engaged E; his powerful strikes and wide swings forcing the smaller, armored human to react fast, or else start losing limbs.

E rolled to dodge a particularly low swing, having to role to the side to avoid the chunk of crystal that was kicked up by the strike. Watching the chunk sail by, E turned his eyes back to the slowly approaching Demon; like a predator, stalking their prey with the knowledge that they're chances of escape were dwindling, _fast._

He exhaled deeply, rising back to his feet and re-acted his wrist blades; arms extending out, with the blue weaponry extending a few feet further. _"This world is not yours to lay claims to,"_ he stated, bringing himself into an offensive stance, one blade pointed towards the stalking Demon.

" **This world, was my Master's right before your kind had crawled out of the ocean,"** Masutā countered, his blade zeroed in on E and never let it point anywhere else. He closed in slowly, the two circled one another until the very tips of their blades knocked one another.

Masutā struck first, aiming a swift, heavy strike to the side. The green smoke formed a small curve with the sudden movements, only to be brought to an equally sudden stop by E's block. Blue electricity sparked with the duel-block, catching the Demon's sword right between his blades. The two exchanged a brief glare, before separating after E landed a firm kick to the Demon's torso.

Staggering back a single step, Masutā quickly re-established his footing and grip on his sword. **"Impressive reactions,"** he commented, slowly circling E while establishing a safe perimeter around the armoured human. **"But it will take more than quick movement to prove worthy of a Warrior's death."**

" _I'm not after a Warrior's death,"_ E countered, sparking his electrical blades against one another briefly. _"Because I don't intend on dying this day, or the next. In fact…"_

He fell silent, charging forward with blades outstretched. Ducking to avoid the shoulder-height swing, he twisted with his movement and slashed right across Masutā's side. Though it did less damaged than he thought-light scratches with over-dramatic sparking-, E continued with his strikes, adding an additional 'X' across the Demon's back. Thanks to his smaller size compared to the titan, he had barely enough time to move out of range by the time Masutā reached and swung at him again.

" _Only ones dying, right here, are you Demons,"_ E finished, settling back into a defensive stance, now opposite his previous position.

His own stance not even hinting at any significant damage being down, Masutā glared down the Agent. Bringing his sword back into the defensive hold, he quickly moved in for a new wave of attacks.

The two groups fought one another vigorously; Kyle had jumped back into the fight against Batibat, he and Tanya delivering different blows in tandem, with Batibat managing to block almost all of the strikes aimed at her.

Taking a step back, the pair looked at one another, giving a silent nod of agreement to one another and returned their focus to the approaching Batibat. At once, they rushed forward to meet her, blades raised up. As Batibat closed in, they brought the down, aiming for her head. But they weren't able to land the intended blow; the she-Demon caught on with their intention, and raised her own hands to block both blades. One getting caught by her dagger, while the other was grabbed by her bare palm.

Immediately following this, Tanya shouted, _"Down!"_ as she adjusted one hand's grip on top of her Blade, and tried bringing the weapon down, despite Batibat's resistance. Kyle caught on, and now Batibat had to deal with both super-strength Warriors pressing their weapons down on her, forcing her down to one knee.

Masuta had pushed E back after another failed attack, when he heard the grunt from across the chamber. He turned to see Batibat, kneeling beneath the two blades pressing down on her. The titan of a Demon turned fully to face the scene, as though he would remain as merely a witness.

Giving E another moment to strike.

With the Demon's back to him, the Silver Ranger charged forward, arms spread wide and ready to give another attempt at getting through the Demon's hard exterior. He had been so focused on aiming at the back of his neck, he didn't even see the hand reach for him.

His shout of surprise seemed somewhat muffled as the padded palm clasped around his helmet, fingers tightening to ensure E wouldn't be able to pry his way out. That didn't stop him from trying; trying to slice through the forearm and fingers, even as he was raised off of the ground.

" _Look out-t-t!"_ E called out, his voice, along with the rest of his body, was thrown across the room, unable to correct himself for long as he sailed through the air.

The three in E's projected path all froze and looked towards his impending impact, and while Tanya and Kyle seemed momentarily stuck as to what to do, Batibat knew _exactly_ what she wanted to do. Letting her dagger-block drop, she grabbed onto the other Blade pressing down against her, and with a mighty heavy, pulled them with her as she rolled backwards.

The two teens let out surprised shouts of their own as they were flung forward, losing their grip on the Blades as they sailed through the air, right towards E.

Their collection echoed throughout the chamber, the three landing with a solid _thud_ and three separate, distinct grunts escaped the mess of bodies. Kyle tried untangling himself from the others, only to get his head shoved aside as E made his own attempts to rise. His attempts were thwarted as well, however, when Tanya took the opportunity by slamming her elbow into the side of E's helmet.

" _That's just the start of it,"_ she hissed, as she and Kyle finally managed to separate themselves from E and all three of them quickly got to their feet. Tanya, it seemed, didn't want to stop at the simple elbow, but with the two Demons closing in on them, that idea moved to the backburner; for now, at least.

E shared the same thought process.

" _Back to back,"_ he said, leaning more towards an order than a request, as he turned to face Masutā, his calm demeanor in his walk a stark contrast to the current situation. At any other time, Tanya would have taken this chance to attack him through whatever means she could.

A time like _this,_ though…

" _Back to back,"_ she repeated to Kyle, and even she could see the skeptical look beneath his helmet. She gave a small glare of her own from beneath hers, before the pair of them turned and stood, backs braced against E's, as they raised their fists.

"You can't possibly hope to win this fight; much less, think you would leave here alive," Batibat commented, taking intentionally slow steps, twirling her dagger between her fingers. Another dagger slipped from her other sleeve, handle grasped in hand yet the blade extended further, forming a sword as she brought it across her body defensively.

" _Well, I'm sure we're gonna disappoint,"_ Kyle jabbed, earning him a glare from the she-Demon for his efforts. Though whether he would have preferred Batibat glaring him down or Tanya's glare she was more than likely giving him right now, he wasn't sure.

" **You are merely delaying the inevitable, Warriors,"** Masutā warned, raising his katana up to bring it level with his helmet, the glow highlighting the imperfections and slash through his mask. **"Though, that much can be expected, when Gods and Prophets send children to fight for them."**

" _The hell you talking about?"_ E demanded, fingers flexing and relaxing into fists in rapid succession.

" **Children…they act impulsively, focusing on the now rather than having the foresight to see what their actions, or lack thereof, effect the grander plan at work."**

" _Shit,"_ Kyle uttered, garnering the attention of Tanya **.**

" _What is it?"_ she questioned under her breath, all while remaining mindful to keep one eye on Batibat.

" _Shitshitshitshitshit!"_ Kyle's uttering steadily grew louder, and was near shout-level as he exclaimed, _"The Pillar! The fucking Pillar!"_

"So they finally understand, at long last," Batibat teased, that same smirk, laced with sadistic intent, tugging at her lips. "Though, I suspect…"

Her lingering pause, and subsequent silence, gave way to shuddering, high-pitch wail; like the crystals that made up the walls were screaming in agony. The glow emitting from the walls slowly started to fade from dominated red shade, slowly giving way to a dark, sickly shade of green washing over those in the 'room'.

The humans looked around in bewilderment, watching as the hundreds of thousands of crystals that made up the walls began to rotate on the spot, creating numerous, overlapping screeches that seemed to shake them to their bones.

Though for the Demons, the shift from crimson to the sickly green shade signified one thing.

" **The Pillar. It has awoken."**

" _For once, I think you better listen the fuck up,"_ Tanya stated, her eyes remaining on Batibat, yet her statement caught the attention of both humans beside her.

" _And what kind of advice do you think you can offer me, Ms Steele, that'd help our current situation? Because I'd just_ love _to hear it,"_ E asked, malice slicing through each of his words as he turned his head a fraction; making sure the Yellow Warrior heard everything.

" _Hey, she knows what she's talking about. Lay off,"_ Kyle advised stiffly, only to get a silent threat in the form of E raising one of his blades horizontally to him.

Only when E lowered the blade to hold it defensively against Masutā, did Tanya look over her shoulder and said,

" _Fucking run."_

E's eyes darted to the side, watching Tanya out of the corner of his eye with a quiet scoff; typical blunt statement. Though his eyes soon found their way back to the titanic Demon standing before him, bathed in the radioactive-green glow, and moved around to look at the rotating crystals surrounding them all.

Any options they had were dwindling rapidly…

" _Don't, even for a second, think this is going to do you any favours in the long run,"_ he uttered, fists forming again to draw the energy out of his swords, and pull them back into his forearm armour.

The second the last spark of blue energy faded into the silver ports, E took off; barely missing the sword Masutā went to bring down upon him, leaving it embedded in the crystals instead of his head. The Demon turned to face the silver trail E left behind, and his eyes narrowed when streaks of yellow and black tore past him, blowing about the loose ends of thread tying his chest armour to the torn and shredded fabric.

A final set of footsteps came running towards him, but he held his unarmed hand out; causing the she-Demon to stop just before passing him.

"They're getting away," she hissed, as Masutā turned around to briefly face her; only to get given the cold shoulder by the taller Demon, and watched as he wordlessly walked in the opposite direction of where the humans had run off.

" **Their day of reckoning will catch them; it always does,"** Masutā threw the comment over his shoulder as he slowly brought his sword around and replaced it back into the sheath; locking into place with the last wisps of green smoke snapping out of sight. **"Their Ancestors met theirs at the Master's Wrath, and even if we do not end them personally, the Master will always be their end."**

He paused, standing in the centre of the green-flooded room. One of his hands rose part way up, palm opening up and facing the crystals that made up the floor. Beneath the floor, directly below the spot his palm was covering, the light instantly became that much brighter.

" **But now,"** Masutā continued, slowly drawing his outstretched palm into a clenching fist. Though faint, small cracks started appearing in the floor's surface as the light's intensity grew further still.

" **They will see the Master's true strength. They will see, just how much they pale in comparison."**

" _Tanya! Kyle! Can either of you hear me?"_

Isaac paced back and forth, his footsteps forming a small groove in the mountain's surface, as he repeatedly talked into his Howler. To his side, the suspiciously door-shaped portal remained etched into the ground, faint wisps of red energy radiating from its surface.

With his latest question resulting in more static, the Red Warrior let out a grunt of frustration, twisting around sharply to face the portal once again; small mounds of soil forming around his boots in the process. _"Fuck this,"_ he stated to himself, giving a quick shake of the head and took steps towards the portal.

He tried waiting for as long as he could, testing to see if the comms would suddenly work; but no adjustments in frequency or amount of times he pressed the button did anything to change the static that came through. And he knew, despite the distance he had created between here and where he had left those Special Forces guys to clear up his mess, they were closing the gap real quick.

Distant shouts caught his attention, and he gave a sharp turn to the source; the roars of engines and overlapping voices barking orders may have been inaudible to most, but to Isaac, they sounded far closer than he would have ever wanted them to be.

" _Fucking hell. Fucking, fucking, fuck!"_ he uttered to himself, quickly turning back to the portal and inhaled sharply. He threw another look over his shoulder, getting a clearer sound of the approaching force, and in that moment, his decision was made.

Though he only managed a couple of running steps when something came flying out of the portal, colliding with him and sending the pair of them tumbling a short distance down the mountainside. Isaac groaned as he came to a stop, lying on his stomach as a pair of silver boots slammed into the dirt a short distance in front of him. With the sound of electricity crackling from the figure, Isaac pushed up a short distance and commented, _"Demons don't even want you, eh?"_ as he slowly rose to his feet.

E glared back at Isaac as the Red Ranger rose, both blades honed in on him. He would've have said something, or he'd rather have done something other than stand there. But before he could, two more shapes jumped from the portal, and Tanya and Kyle came landing and brought an end to the brief stand-off.

" _Back up,"_ Tanya stated, pointing accusingly at E while Kyle held his Blade defensively. She looked back at Isaac as he approached, standing on her other side, _"So glad you finally decided to show you."_

" _Yeah, I know you missed me. What happened in there?"_ Greetings quickly gave way to brief questioning, as Isaac shifted into his own defensive stance beside the others.

" _Shit went sideways. I'll explain later,"_ Tanya responded under her breath, throwing a slight look to the portal they'd only just jumped out of. _"Right now, we've got to get as far away from that portal as possible."_

" _You three aren't going anywhere,"_ E stated, taking a side step when they tried moving to one side. His hands tightened into fists, twisting the blades around a fraction. _"Only way you're getting out of here, is if you're under our lock and key."_

" _Like hell is that gonna happen,"_ Isaac spat, looking ready to rush E and take him one-to-one. And if it hadn't been for Tanya putting a foot in front of him, he probably would have.

But a faint rumbling beneath their feet would've stopped them all from making any moves towards each other. The four froze on the spot, slowly turning to look at the portal; finding a pool of green forming in the centre of it, spreading out to cover the glowing red. More deep rumbles came from the portal, triggering several small cracks around its perimeter.

Tanya slowly looked back around, looking at Isaac. He caught her eye, and glanced to her.

" _This is where we start running,"_ Tanya stated.

" _Yep."_

That was the last word any of the teens said before taking off, vanishing through a blur of their mixed colours. E went to chase after them, but the ground shook at _just_ the right time to shake him almost off balance; while not enough to knock him down, it was more than enough to keep him from immediately chasing after the Rangers.

He recovered quickly, throwing his own look at the portal. His jaw tightened, and teeth were bared in a silent snarl of aggravation, and deactivated one of the blades as he brought the hand up to his helmet.

" _This is Commander E, re-establishing comms. Any units coming up Fuji, turn around and get as far away as you can. Evacuate any civilians that were too stupid to follow orders, and make arrests on those who think we're joking around. Keep them_ off _the mountain, at all costs."_

He got several responses back, a mixture of English and Japanese voices, all giving the same response when it boiled down to it; they understood his orders, and knew better than questioning him.

With that sorted, another rumble in the earth prompted him to take off, not wanting to hang around for whatever backlash he could receive if that Demon realm decided to spill into their world. Yet even has he ran down the mountain, he looked around for any trace of lingering streaks of the teenagers. His hands clenched into fists, almost triggering the blades again, as he got nothing; neither visual or from his scans.

They'd gotten away.

" _Get our guys onto transports and get them back to Pax ASAP,"_ E ordered, a glare easily etching itself onto his visor-covered eyes.

He blew down the mountain at speed, leaving a long streak of silver light behind him. Tracking it back to its source, found the last traces fading. Only a few steps away from the now-warped rectangular portal. Small rocks rumbled and rolled with the shaking of the ground, as the portal warped further and further out of its original shape.

It suddenly slammed close, pulling the surface of the mountainside together and concealing the portal again. Though not before two more blurs slipped through the cracks at the last second, both Demons landing where the humans had been mere moments earlier.

"And you are sure the humans' curiosity will not lead them to the entrance?" Batibat queried, looking around for any of the lingering Warriors as Masutā raised one hand to where the entrance had been moments earlier.

" **Even if they were to find it, they would have no chance of getting to it; all they will find will be more rock and earth,"** Masutā replied, slowly lowering his arm back to his side as the last traces of green glow evaporated into the air. He turned around to look down at Batibat. **"Now…"**

"Now?" the she-Demon questioned, raising an eyebrow slightly as her suspicion rose. Masutā took a slow step closer, hand brought to rest against the handle of his sword. Her own hand slowly opening up, palm facing away and dagger slowly slipping from her sleeve.

" **Now, you will take me before the Master. So I may restore myself by His side,"** Masutā stated, more along the lines of an order rather than a simple request.

Batibat's eyes narrowed a fraction and her pupils contracted ever so slightly at the demand, her fingers almost tightening around the dagger out of instinct. But she refrained from doing so, and tried to relax her hand as she looked up to meet Masutā's eye…rather, eyeholes.

"And what makes you think I should take you back, and present you before the Master?" she questioned, her eyes darting to the taller Demon's hand-specifically, the one across his sword-for any sign that she didn't like.

Catching his fingers loosely wrapping around the leather-wraps, she quickly looked up when he began speaking again; his voice now carrying a sliver of threat. **"I served the Master with utter devotion and loyalty. I am the reason the Master's reach extended to this region so early in the War. And if it wasn't for me, you wouldn't be standing there right now; the Master would have destroyed you for your inability to perform the task, at which point, I will find my own way back to serve the Master again."**

" **Either way…I return to the Master. How long it takes me, and whether you accompany me or not, is entirely up to you,"** Masutā drew his sword a fraction, releasing the pent up smoke from the sheath and letting it spill onto the ground.

Batibat's grip on her dagger loosened, letting the blade drop into sight and grab the handle once again. Her eyes narrowed, keeping Masutā's arm in her peripheral vision while she stared him down. Neither Demon said anything for several drawn-out, tense minutes.

"…Fine."

The she-Demon's fingers slowly curled up, sliding the dagger back up into her sleeve as Masutā locked his sword back into place; sealing the smoke inside.

" **Then let us proceed."**

Giving a look over her shoulder, back at Masutā, as she turned away, Batibat snapped her fingers and a portal tore itself through the air. When it was stable, she turned partially back around and held a hand towards the portal. "The Master awaits," she assured, yet her expression was anything but.

Masutā stepped forward, lingering for a second before the portal's reach, and threw a look aside to Batibat. Her only response was a further prompt towards the portal. He stepped through the portal, disappearing from sight.

Batibat's fist clenched quickly, as the portal collapsed in on itself and sealed up. A look, cross between satisfied and simmering anger, flashed across her face. "Unwise to threaten of Hand of the Master, Masutā. Thought you would know better," she said aloud, knowing no-one was around to hear, and opened up another portal. Without a second look back, she walked through, vanishing from the mountainside.


	24. Episode 23 - The God's Hand, Part 4

Episode 23 - The God's Hand, Part 4

"You've made good progress in your ability to control the Lightning Brothers," Savage commented, as the doors slid open to let Natalie and Tyler walk into the Den.

Tyler let a small smirk cross his lips, while Natalie had a beaming smile on her face and gave Tyler a reassuring bump of the shoulder as she moved across to the Den to sit on one of the desks. "Like I told him," she said, gesturing to Tyler, "it was like something just clicked with him. Right after I talked with you, and next thing I saw, he had that Zord wrapped around his finger."

MUTT looked up from his monitor, saying, _"She's meaning figuratively, Savage."_

"Yes…" Savage agreed, giving a side-long glance to MUTT for his comment, walking down from the raised section and towards the two teenagers.

Tyler wasn't sure if he was still being paranoid or anything; while he had been assured plenty of times about Savage and his temperament, the Wolf-Man had that look of…something he didn't like in his eye.

"Though I am not going to dismiss this great leap forward in progress, I am curious as to how it came about so suddenly," Savage explained, coming to a stop mere feet from Tyler. And while the teen stood his ground against him, Savage picked up several small signs of his anxiety. Nothing would escape his nose. "I want you to be truthful for this next question," Savage's voice dropped a slight level, taking another small step, enclosing his presence around the teen.

All sense of achievement and cheer quickly drained from the Den at Savage's question; even Natalie's smile slowly faded from her face, and MUTT's typing slowed to a crawl.

Tyler himself brought his eye up to meet Savage, swallowing a small lump in his throat he didn't know was there. "Shoot," he said, faux calm pushed across his expression.

Savage's eyes slowly moved to get a good, long look at the subtler expressions twitching across the human's face. With a slow exhale, hitting Tyler right in the face, Savage questioned, "Did you have help, Tyler? Did you…have a vision?"

His jaw tightened for a second, managing to relax it enough to respond with a, "You gotta…be a bit more specific than that."

The wolf's eyes narrowed a fraction at the sarcastic edge to Tyler's tone, though let it slide for the time being as he further pressed his questioning. "The others have all had…visions of a higher power; a God, if you will. The God of my people. Zeta."

Even though he was focusing all of his attention of Savage and his pressing questions, Tyler caught something in the corner of his eye that made him give a low, sharp inhale. _'Of course he fucking turns up now,'_ Tyler thought sourly, trying to give a glare over Savage's shoulder, without making it look like he was giving one.

The white coat stood out, even with Matt leaning against the sterile white walls of the Den. He stood in the _exactly_ spot that allowed him to be seen over Savage's shoulder. But before Tyler could get the full message of his glare across, that _'this wasn't the best time'_ for him, he paused when he noticed something that was immediately cause for concern.

No cocky smirk. Not even one corner twisted into a grin.

Simply a stoic expression, finished off when he raised a finger and held it to his lips, giving Tyler a slight shake of the head.

"Tyler?"

He was snapped back to what was present in front of him when Natalie called his name, coming up a short distance away from the stand-off. His eyes briefly glanced over to Natalie, seeing the concerned and slightly puzzled look across her face, before returning to Savage's now intensified glare.

"A…I-I…." he struggled to find the right words, as though anything he tried to say was ripped out before he had a chance to speak. And even if he had managed to form the words, they would have been drowned out. The alarm sounded, blaring obnoxiously loud while they were bathed in the red warning light.

"MUTT?" Savage questioned, pulling himself away from Tyler instantly, and quickly moving back to stand up to the podium behind MUTT.

Tyler took a small step back, giving a quick look around the Den, and noticed they were down a person… _'He's gone; conveniently,'_ he thought to himself bitterly, though ensured to keep those thoughts to himself as Natalie approached, both her helmet and his in hand.

" _What're we going up against this time?"_ Natalie asked, helmet on and locked into place before Tyler had even fully grabbed his.

MUTT clicked a few buttons and looked over the readings in double-time. _"It's the Demon they described from Japan; it's arrived in Pax."_

"What?!" Tyler exclaimed, looking at Natalie and quickly locking his helmet back on as they rushed up to the other side of the barrier, straining to look at the screen from the sides.

" _And he's already been scaled up; I'll prepare the Megazords and try to bring the others back to Pax Valley as soon as possible."_

"MUTT, get on that," Savage seconded, patting the robot on the shoulder as he moved around to lean over the railing; Natalie and Tyler giving him space before he even got near. "You two, get out in your Zords and try to fight this Demon off as long as you can. We'll get the others to you as soon as we get them back here."

" _On it,"_ Natalie confirmed with a nod, turning to Tyler and giving a slight head jerk towards the exit. She got a nod in return, and in streaks of blue and white, the pair tore out of sight, leaving a small breeze in their wake.

" _You think they can fight against this Demon?"_ MUTT questioned, only doing so as the door slide close behind the Warriors. He lifted his head from the screen, looking towards Savage; greeted by the back of the Wolf's head, facing the just closed door.

"No…this Demon is new to all of us. And if this is one of Horror's Hands, the Warriors will need all the help they can get to defeat him," Savage mused, bringing one hand to carefully stroke the underside of his muzzle. Like an epiphany, he gave a snap of his fingers and pointed back to the robot. "MUTT, bring out the Rogues."

" _Understood,"_ MUTT announced, resuming his tapping at the keyboard as Savage turned and headed through one of the other doors, disappearing with a flick of his trench coat.

* * *

" **That Witch…"**

Masutā seethed to himself as he looked at his surroundings; not the chilling cold that used to welcome him upon stepping foot in his Masters' domain. Instead, everything was so…bright. The sudden contrast he faced after traveling through the portal was enough to momentarily blind him.

And when his eyes had finally adjusted to the bright sunlight, he was able to see what lay before him.

A human settlement, far larger than it ever should have been. Standing as an insult to the Master, and acting as a false beacon of ownership of this planet.

How it sickened him.

" **The humans defile my Masters' land…they do not deserve to grovel at His feet. But make no mistake, Witch."** His fingers tightened around his swords' handle, giving a swift tug free of its sheath. The now titanic-sized blade was pulled free, a green trail left behind as he brought it across his body. **"You will be next."**

The ground shook with every step the colossal Demon took towards Pax Valley.

"We've got a Demon entering Pax!"

Clint burst through the doors, fighting through the stream of armed soldiers as he made his way to the control centre of the HQ. Monitors were a glaring red alarm, with multiple sirens going off; he'd heard them throughout the facility during the sprit to the control centre.

"What's the statue on Agent E's location?" he demanded, shoving past a couple of scientists rushing back and forth, fighting his way across the room to one sitting at a computer. His hand gripped the back of the seat tightly, probably would have pushed the scientist seated aside if the chair had wheels, though that didn't stop him from trying.

"We got him on tracking, he's on the way to the facili-"

"No, no, no! Deploy the Zord assets, and divert the teleporter to the cockpit. He's gonna need to be out there the second he gets back," Clint insisted, almost hitting the monitor as he gestured to different coordinates currently on display.

"Sir?" the confused techie responded.

"By the time we get him back here, then send him out in the Zords, that Demon's gonna already be at the city," Clint explained, stressing every word, especially towards the end as he gestured to the screen again, from the marked location to the border of Pax. "Do I have to spell it out for you?"

"Ye-No, sir."

As the scientist quickly made the adjustments, and the other scientists briskly returned to work as Clint stood up again, the doors burst open again.

"Agent Clint!"

His head twisted slightly at the particular tone Fairweather used; like a mother scolding a child. Clint turned around slowly, finding Fairweather storming across the gap between the door and where he had been helicoptering the scientist. Her steps echoed unnaturally loud, even with the background noise of keyboard keys tapping, and Clint found himself suddenly trying to avoid her glare.

Whatever had happened, it hadn't sat well with her.

"Ms Fairweather. As you can see, we're bu-"

"Where's Elijah? I need to speak to him, _now."_

Clint's jaw tightened slightly, and after prying his jaw apart again, stiffly replied, "Agent _E_ has been redirected to his Megazord to stop this Demon from reaching the city limits." He gestured behind him, Fairweather flicking her glare from Clint to one of the monitors.

Her jaw tightened as she saw his words to be true, and returned her fiery stare to the man unfortunate enough to be standing in front of her.

"Come with me, _now._ "

Clint cocked an eyebrow, turning to look around at the various scientists and techies working at the computers. "I'm needed around h-"

"Now."

He paused quickly when he saw the threatening glare behind Fairweather's glasses. The hand pointing behind him quickly fell back down to his side, uttering a quiet, "Make it quick," as he walked past Fairweather and towards the door.

The scientist turned to keep an eye on him, burning holes in the back of Clint's head as she followed behind him. "Believe me, I intend to," she warned, briskly exiting the control room and slammed the door shut behind her.

" _Hey, motherfucker!"_

A series of impacts, and resulting vibrations through the ground, made Masutā paused mid-step. He completed the latest step, and turned around slowly to see the fading dust cloud surrounding the Wolf Zords. The Beta hung back a little, a snarl ripping through the metal fangs, while the Omega lead the charge; the growl tearing through its throat sounding as though it was ready to tear its voice box apart. Several panels across the back of its neck were raised, giving off the appearance of being larger than it actually was.

" **Only two? Do I not deserve to face the Pack in its entirety? Do I not deserve that honour?"** Masuta questioned, sword drawn and pointed towards the two Zords; slowly moving from one to another, choosing his target.

" _Oh, you'll face the rest of us soon enough; we're just the welcoming party,"_ Tyler responded to himself, fingers flexing into fists as he shifted stances. The Zord mirrored his movements, front paw moving forward and digging into the ground, another snarl echoing off the metal.

Only getting the snarl from the Beta Zord, Masutā zeroed in on that Wolf Zord, twisting the blade around, the sunlight hitting the steel and making it give off a greenish glow. **"No matter…you are an enemy of the Master. I may prefer a fight with more evenly-matched opponents, but…needs must,"** the Demon commented aloud, as he slowly advanced on the two Zords.

" _Tyler, I'll go around him. Try to keep his attention so he doesn't try t-"_

Natalie was cut off when another impact shook the ground beneath all three. The Demon came to a stop for the second time in as many minutes, and turned to the source of the latest impact.

" _This is Special Agent E, of the United States Special Forces. This is your one and only warning; stand down, and you shall be dealt with accordingly."_ The loudspeaker boomed around the vast area, echoing from the Lone Wolf Megazord as it rose from the landing position it had been forced to go into.

" _How's he here so quickly?"_ Natalie asked herself.

" _I thought he was in Japan?"_ Tyler questioned.

" _He was."_

" **It is you who will be dealt with, Silver Wolf. We were unable to come to an honourable outcome during our last encounter,"** Masutā responded, sword raised to point towards the Megazord. His feet turned away from the city to point in the direction of the Megazord, taking the first few steps towards it.

" _This honor-mind set of yours comes second to the preservation of the culture of the human race,"_ E said over the speakers, flicking a few switches in the cockpit, turning the speakers off again,as he looked through the visor. _"But I do intend on getting to a proper conclusion to that fight,"_ he added under his breath.

The Megazord's arms reached out to the sides, blades extending from the wrists and sparking up, radiating a faint blue glow against the metal plates of the body as he moved into a defensive stance.

Masutā's eyes narrowed slightly, gripping his sword with both hands and brought the blade to his side. He continued on his path towards the Lone Megazord, completely losing interest in the two Wolf Zords at his opposite side.

" _What the fuck do we do now then?"_ Tyler asked.

" _Not much we can do right now. At least that guy's got the Demon's attention. Let's just hope the others get here soon and take this guy out quickly,"_ Natalie responded, checking over a few of the control. She quickly brought her head back up again, hearing the first blows being exchanged.

" _Until then…we've just gotta wait."_

Masuta brought his sword downward, barely missing the Lone Megazord as it dodged, sinking his blade into the ground a considerable depth. A swift tug pulled it free of the ground, bringing it across his body just in time to block the double-strike E tried to swing down upon him.

His feet finding a steady hold on the ground, the Demon pushed back, sending the Megazord staggering backwards. The Warlord then pressed his attack, advancing on the recovering Megazord, sword held at his side.

E grunted in the cockpit of the Megazord, managing to find his footing after the forceful shove. Taking a steady stance, he brought his arms across his chest and clenched is fists. The Megazord mirrored his movements, blades resting over one another; energy sparking, arching between the pair. Both locked together when Masutā's blade came down between them, sparking all the way up the length of the Demon's weaponry.

The Demon's sword slowly moved forward slowly, grinding against the two blades as he moved closer, leaning in towards the head piece of the Megazord.

E's entire view through the cockpit's windows was eclipsed by the toxic-green light. He held the glare with the titanic Demon, arms clenching up to keep the stance.

" **You are** _ **doomed**_ **to perish, Warrior. You merely delay the inevitable,"** Masutā's voice echoed around his cockpit. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end, as though the voice was coming from directly beside him. Though at the same time, he heard several alarms and lights popping up to the console on his other side, his eyes darting to look towards them.

" _Oh, I don't think I'm the one who's doomed. Not today, anyway,"_ E responded, bringing one of the Megazord's legs backwards, and used this to shove the arms forward, pushing the Demon off.

Masuta was pushed back a step, reaffirming his stance and was about to re-enter a battle-ready stance when he felt tremors through the ground, which made him pause for a few seconds. He turned around slowly, always mindful to keep the Megazord in his peripheral vision.

He turned just to watch the Wolf Pack Megazord complete its formation, slowly shifting into a fighting stance, fits raised.

" _Glad you guys got here just in time,"_ Natalie commented in relief, looking to the other three Warriors, the group now back up to their full strength.

" _Feels good to be back,"_ Tanya agreed, giving a short nod of greeting to both Natalie and Tyler before turning her eyes back to the visor. _"We'll catch up later. Right now, we've got this guy to take care of."_

" _He ain't gonna go down easy,"_ Isaac stated, leading the group as they shifted the Megazord the fight-ready stance, fingers firmly closed up into fists. _"We've got to hit him with everything we got."_

Tyler looked back at Kyle, the two briefly exchanging a nod, and while the former turned his attention back to the matter at hand, Kyle took a second longer after a side-long glance at the back of Isaac's head. He exhaled slowly, bringing his eyes back to focus on the Demon, dead in their sights.

Masuta slowly looked between the two Megazords, glare barely lingering on each for a few seconds before moving to the other. His fingers flexed around his swords' handle, an indignant scoff coming from beneath the armour. **"You humans were never one for a fair fight…it appears some things never truly change,"** the Demon Warlord stated, sword slowly coming up to follow his head movement between the two Megazords. **"No matter,"** he continued, twirling his sword around, the handle rolling over his fingers and over the back of his palm, landing in his palm again. **"All of you shall eventually fall."**

" _Enough chit-chat,"_ E finally broke the silence, getting his Megazord to move forward, advancing on the Demon with one of its arms swinging for his head. But the sword was blocked, the steel clashing with the electricity, igniting sparks, before Masutā delivered a shoulder strike to the Megazord's head.

It stumbled backwards, several small alarms going off in the cockpit, as the Demon added to the momentum by shoving forward, blades parting. He quickly closed the gap, barely any time given for E to properly recover, and tried bringing a strike downward.

E barely managed to block the initial attack, but couldn't react quickly enough to block the kick to the chest; the force of which sent him flying backwards, landing a short distance away. Mud collected in some of the panels, enough force to tear off the smaller panels or those that apparently weren't as well fitted as first seemed.

That matter now dealt with, at least for the moment, Masutā turned back around. The punch to his helmet would have connected, had he not side-stepped to avoid it, the Megazord leaning in with the punch, leaving the helmets of the two titans too close for comfort. The Demon landing a punch, warping the metal plates of the torso, sending it staggering backwards to try and recover.

" **I had my doubts that you would live up to the legacy left for you,"** Masutā commented aloud, slowly advancing on the stumbling Megazord. It managed to recover, and the teens inside tried throwing a punch together. But their blow was blocked by Masutā's forearm, removing all the momentum they tried throwing at him.

" **I am glad to be proven right."**

A heat-butt from Masutā connected with the Megazord's, quickly followed up by a diagonal strike across the torso. Sparks flew from the latest gash in the metal, the teens getting a shower in the process, as they formed a gap between the two.

" _Come on guys!"_ Isaac shouted, establishing the Megazord's footing again, rolling his shoulders as he heaved breath. _"Get your shit together!"_

" _What do you think we're doing?!"_ Tyler shouted back, joining the others as they brought the Megazord's fists up, and raised one forearm to block a strike from Masutā's sword. The other hand was extended outward, the Tail Blade folding out from the palm, and struck the exposed torso.

The Demon grunted as he was struck, only sparking the armour on his side as the Megazord pushed his sword up, freeing themselves and slipping out of his grasp. Briefly holding onto his side, the Warlord turned around, eyes shifting beneath his helmet. Narrowing slightly as the two Megazords stood alongside one another, weapons drawn and ready.

E briefly looked aside, the Megazord following his moves, as he saw the Rangers' Megazord step up into view. His jaw tightened under his helmet, twisting into a displeasured scowl, before he turned his eyes forward, facing the Demon. _"Just this once."_

" _Think we can trust him?"_ Tanya questioned, seeing the slight movements of the other Megazord in their peripheral vision.

" _No, but what choice do we have? We got our asses handed to us last time, even with him,"_ Kyle responded, the five of them spun the holographic Tail Blade around their hands, bringing it into a two-handed hold. _"We just need to be ready, when we take this Demon out."_

" _You sound pretty confident,"_ Natalie uttered under her breath, giving a slight shake of her head.

" _Well someone has to,"_ Kyle countered.

" _Guys,"_ Tanya stated firmly, glancing over at the two. _"Zip it. Focus."_

She was sure she received a glare from both, but any chance of that was pushed aside as their collective effort was re-directed to the Demon.

The Lone Wolf Megazord crossed the blades in front of itself, arcs of energy reaching between the two. _"Follow my lead,"_ E commented, finding it a bit fruitless to attempt to give orders to these Rangers, but thought it was at least worth trying.

His Megazord moved in first, rushing the Demon with arms extended to the sides; the Wolf Pack Megazord following shortly behind his, the five teens moving in sync as the ground shook beneath the running titans.

This marked the start of the three-way battle, swords clashing one another and blows landing; with various degrees of damage inflected. Steel was slashed, metal was warped and the ground was shaken beneath the constant beating. The teens and E were thrown about their cockpits with every staggering blow Masutā landed, and yet, try as they might, no blow they landed seemed to cause much damage to the Demon.

With the latest kick from the Warlord, the Wolf Pack Megazord was thrown to the ground, shoulder digging into the ground and created the latest deep, extensive groove in the ground. The teens inside were thrown around, only held in place by the various cables locking them in position.

" _What's it gonna take to bring this fucker down?!"_ Tanya shouted, favouring her left shoulder-she was sure it was suffering with the constant impacts with the ground-as she and the others tried getting into a fight-ready stance again.

" _Tyler, the Lightning Zords. Think you can bring them out?"_ Natalie asked, looking across at the Blue Warrior. He looked back to her, and was about to respond when Isaac butted in.

" _Drop it, Nat. He ain't ready for shit like this,"_ Isaac stated, eyes focused forward as he tried bringing his own arms up into a stance matching the others. But just as he was about to, all he was met with was heavy resistance.

" _Fuck sake, Isaac! What's your fucking problem?!"_ Kyle demanded.

" _You're still giving him shit, and for what?! Matt's gone, Isaac. There's nothing you can do to change that now,"_ Tanya quickly followed up, as Isaac turned back forward. _"He doesn't deserve this! No-one does!"_

" _Guys, we need to focus,"_ Natalie tried to press, though she was drowned out by the constant bombardment. The two voices steadily rose, echoing off of the walls and smacking right back into the faces of the quieter three. And as the words became louder and more insulting, Isaac's hand steadily grew into a tight fist.

Tyler took note, even feeling the steadily building rage from the Red warrior; and it seemed ready to make itself known to the others.

" _That's enough!"_

Those two words brought everything else to a sudden stop. Silence consumed the cockpit, and where possible, they turned to face the source. Isaac looked over his left shoulder, and all at once, his breath caught in his throat and his eyes widened beneath his visor. The corner of his vision caught a small twinkle, the corner of his visor catching a fraction of the light coming from the hand grasping his shoulder.

" _Matt?"_ Isaac asked quietly.

* * *

" _What the hell are they doing?!"_

E found that same phrase repeating itself a number of times, whenever he looked across the battlefield the clearing had become, and saw the other Megazord simply standing there as he fought the Warlord alone. His wrist blades had deactivated a short time beforehand, and he was certain the tests the scientists did on the Megazords' range of movement weren't as extensive as the ones he was putting them through.

Despite both of them having heavy, bulky builds to them, Masutā and E displayed maneuvererability and speed that was reminiscent of their original sizes. Masutā's strikes were as fast, and as deadly, as ever, and E found cramps forming throughout his limbs.

However, he failed to dodge the latest side-swipe of the Demon's sword, and the force sent him to the ground; while it was the spine of the sword, making it much blunter than the actual bladed side, it didn't make any less damage. The metal all across the Megazord was warped and torn in places, even some over the eyes that partially blocked E's view.

E tried recovering from the latest fall, but quickly grew still when he heard metal groaning from somewhere on the Megazord's body, and a quick glance to his readouts showed ample pressure being applied to the now exposed plating of the neck joint.

" **You have worth, Warrior,"** Masutā commented, twisting the blade so that the very tip was barely hovering over the Megazord's neck. **"Perhaps to a lesser opponent than myself, you could have claimed victory. Almost a pity…"** The sword pulled back slightly, momentarily leaving a fraction more space, before being driven forward again, stabbing through the first few layers of metal.

Several alarms started blaring, various screens flashing red with sirens blaring right in his ear, as E tried booting up the self-repair programs. All the while, he tried booting up the power in some areas that had momentarily cut out, keeping an eye on what the Demon was saying and doing, AND checking to see if the teenagers had _finally decided to get back into the fight!_

" **But you are an enemy of my Master, and as such, must be eliminated."**

' _Fucking teenagers,'_ E had that thought run through his head too many times to count, as he saw the Demon raise his sword back upward, aiming to bring down the finis-

Masutā shouted out all of a sudden, and E found the Demon was soon no longer standing in front of him; rather, flying through the air, coming back down to the ground with an earth-quivering force. _"What the…?"_ E uttered to himself, quickly checking his readings to try and figure out what had happened.

His eyes found a small light beeping repeatedly across his controls; a modification he had personally asked for, and the reason why he couldn't just get on the comms with the Rangers in the other Megazord. He flicked the switch, and a familiar voice came through the speakers. And E wasn't happy one bit at the tone used…

" _I have no respect for you, and I'm entirely certain the feeling is shared."_ A new shadow loomed over the recovering Megazord, and E almost re-activated his weaponry as the silver-accented arm reached towards him.

" _But in times of need, with a common enemy to fight against, sometimes disagreement must be put aside."_

The Rogue Megazord's outstretched hand turned slightly, grabbing onto the shoulder of the downed Megazord, and with a mighty effort from both controllers, the Lone Megazord was back on its feet. The two looked at one another-E briefly saw that two-legged armoured wolf at the controls, staring right back at him-before both controllers turned back to the now-standing Demon Warlord.

" _Let's just get this over with,"_ E uttered, adjusting his stance and activated his right wrist sword, extending it out and bringing it up into a battle-ready stance.

Savage shifted his own stance, the Wolf Blade quickly forming between both his and the Megazord's hands, bringing it into a defensive position, pointed at Masutā. _"It will not be easy to destroy him."_

Masutā's blade slowly moved from Savage to E, the two titanic Megazords standing oppose him. Movement in his peripheral vision caught his attention, however, and he looked to the far right to face it properly. His eyes narrowed into a scowl, and his hands adjusted to bring his sword to face the same direction as his eyes.

Both Megazord's followed the Demon's look, and all three found themselves looking at the third Wolf Megazord, battle-scarred, yet standing with them. Its head turned to look across at the other two looking at it, and those at the controls gave a small nod.

" _We're doing this together,"_ Isaac's voice came over the comms, as the Megazords quickly turned back to face the Demon.

In the cockpit, Isaac partially turned around to look to his side. _"All of us,"_ he added. At his side, Tyler turned to look at the Red Warrior, offering him a nod of affirmation. Both turned back at forward facing, and together with the other three, moved their stance to keep feet firmly planted on the ground, and drew both hands together to grip the handle of the Tail Blade.

Masuta scoffed quietly, his eyes shifting from Megazord to Megazord. **"It would seem that honour does not transcend through all generations. No matter...all of you will be dealt with."**

" _I'm ready to shut this fucker up,"_ Tanya proposed.

" _Finally, seems we're starting to think alike,"_ E responded, activating his other wrist blade and flexed his fingers, bringing the two blades up to have them both pointed towards Masutā.

" _We're going to need time to get the Lightning Zords out,"_ Tyler commented, looking around at the others. _"Reckon we can make time?"_

" _We'll do what we can,"_ Isaac confirmed, giving a small nod in return. His eyes moved back to facing forward, facing the Demon.

Time seemed to slow down, a stand-off initiating between the two sides; waiting for the first move to be made by the other. Fingers firmly tightened around weapon handles, and stances were shifted ever so slightly. One foot being favoured, then the other. The other shoulder coming forward to take the role of leading side.

Finally, Masutā made the first move; twisting his sword to rest on the other palm, igniting the hand and gliding it across the full length of the weapon. The green energy followed like a trail behind his hand, charging up the sword, all the way to the pointed tip. And in one swift motion, adjusted the hold on his sword and slashed across.

The arching wave of green energy surged forward, covering the ground between the Demon and Megazords in mere seconds. The ground rippled beneath the wave, upturning and cracking in places.

" _Move!"_ Savage barked over the comms, quickly surging forward. The Wolf Pack Megazord moved forward and inward, mirroring the Rogue Megazord to stand against the rapidly approaching energy wave. Both the group and Savage brought the Megazords' forearms up and across the chests, and braced themselves against the ground.

The wave struck them with the force of several punches and blows all at once. The metal plating of the Zords warped and groaned under the powerful shockwave, some of the decorative panels completely buckling under the pressure it was ill-prepared for. Inside both cockpits, the teens and Savage bore the brunt of the energy, fists clenched and teeth grinding to keep their stance.

Most of the energy of the impact either absorbed or deflected by the two Megazords, however, and after sharing a quick look between themselves, quickly broke; clearing a path for E and the Lone Megazord.

The Agent surged forward, his Megazord charging between the two and towards the Demon. Both the Rogue and Wolf Pack Megazords fell into line and followed the path created by E; deflected several, less energized attacks off to both sides, slicing up the ground surrounding the three.

Masuta brought down a physical strike as soon as E was within range, sparks flying as the Megazord deflected the sword to one side, forcing the blade to sink into the ground. The Demon tried striking him with his free hand, but E's reactions were quicker, rolling under the swinging punch. His shout of aggravation was cut short by a slash across his torso, courtesy of Savage, and was sent staggering back by a following shoulder barge.

In this time, E got back to his feet and brought both swords down across Masutā's back; sparks, mixed with green energy, ignited from the attacks. All this seemed to do was further infuriate Masutā, who retaliated by swinging his entire body around, his sword following and quickly got momentum and struck E's blocking swords.

" _Not this time,"_ E uttered under his breath, pulling back slightly and shoved Masuta's sword off his own. Masuta carried the momentum, spinning back around and using it to block an attack by the Wolf Pack Megazord; swords crossed, trying to keep the other in place.

The three Megazords began throwing their attacks at the Warlord, hoping to overwhelm him and weaken him considerable. And while their attacks did noticeable scar Masutā's armour and slow his retaliating attacks, the progress was slow and they were taking excessive damage.

" _Tyler!"_ Kyle called, head twisting to one side to avoid a shower of sparks falling over his visor. _"Lightning Zords in range, get ready."_

Tyler gave a nod to Kyle, quickly turning to look towards Isaac.

" _It all yours, Tyler,"_ Isaac responded, giving Tyler a look over the shoulder and a quick nod.

" _On it,"_ Tyler confirmed, unlocking himself from the controls and brought up his personal HUD. The Lightning Zords were shown closing in, with a smaller screen keeping him up to date with the actual battle. He exhaled slowly, and closed his eyes; reaching out to the Lightning Zords, feeling their presence draw closer to him.

" _Reach out…"_ he whispered to himself, outstretched fingers twitching slightly, attempting to curl inward. Wanting to grab hold of something. Another exhale, and his fingers slowly straightening out again. _"Command…"_

Both sets of eyes on the Wolf Zords lit up as they approached, glowing much brighter as they picked up speed, bearing down on the fight; massive paw prints stamping deep into the dirt, the Zords leaping across great distances in mere seconds.

" _There we go…"_

Just over Tyler's shoulder, a glowing white light highlighted the imperfects and battle-damaged grooves. And at the centre of the light, just barely visible behind Tyler's helmet, a pair of brilliantly bright blue eyes; partially watching Tyler, while also looking beyond.

Savage snarled as he and his Megazord were slammed to the ground, getting rocked around the cockpit as he tried to recover. Stabbing his Blade into the ground and using it as an anchor to pull himself back up again, the Megazord got right back up and tried rushing back into the fight.

" _Savage, look out!"_

Kyle's voice suddenly came over the comms, momentarily catching Savage's attention before a crimson blur tore across his vision, forcing him to stop dead in his tracks. Savage followed the blur, finding it was joined by a second, navy blur and charging directly towards the Wolf Pack.

" _He has learned fast,"_ Savage told himself, eyes narrowing a fraction as he looked towards the Megazord, before turning back around to see the Lone Silver Megazord get slammed into the ground. With a low sigh, he adjusted his hold on his weaponry and charge back into the fight.

Masutā snarled as he readjusted his stance, spinning his sword to hold it the right way up again. He paused in his latest attack on the Lone Megazord, feeling the vibrations of the other Megazord charging at him, and turned to deflect the incoming sword. A follow up punch came shortly after, but Masutā managed to pin the fist between his arm and body, pinning Savage in place.

" **You honestly have hope you can defeat me?"** Masutā questioned, leaning in close, peering into the eye holes of the Megazord. Applying more pressure to the arm trapped with his own, metal plating groaning and bending under the strain; Savage gritting his teeth in the cockpit as the resulting pain clenched around his arm.

" **I was handpicked by the Master, chosen specifically to serve at his side and rule over a portion of his new Kingdom. What makes you think you have any chance of standing oppose me?"**

He quickly raised his sword-brandishing hand up, and looked ready to bring it down across the pinned Megazord. But before he could even start the downward strike, a loud blast rang out and a sudden force struck Masutā in the shoulder raising the sword. The unexpected strike released Savage, allowing him to push back and put some space between his Megazord and Masutā.

The Demon staggered back, slumped over with hand clenching the smouldering plating of his armour. He raised his head back up and a snarl ripped through his features as his gaze landed on the smoking barrel of the Wolf Zords' jaw.

Slowly lowering the newly attached Wolf Arm, the sun caught the eyes of the Wolf Pack Megazord just right to glimmer, highlighting the scowl that was formed by the two halves of the Lightning helmet.

" _Enough fucking about,"_ Tyler panted, chest rising and falling slightly as his arm mirrored the Megazord's as it lowered. _"Let's show this guy what we can do."_

" _Finally, we're getting somewhere,"_ Isaac commented, giving a slight nod to accompany his words.

The other teens all gave nods as well, all five of them moving their arms back down to their sides, the clenched fists slowly relaxing, if only for a moment.

Masutā slowly lowered his hand, now a tightly-clenched fist, away from his armour plated chest. This revealed the still-smouldering leather and metal, though a noticeable crack had formed up his breastplate.

" _You've made a dent,"_ Savage confirmed, backing up to fall into line with the Pack Megazord.

" _Now we've got to press the advantage,"_ E stated, falling into a fighting stance at the other side of the Pack Megazord, swords extended. _"Me and the Wolf will get up close and divert his attacks, create openings for you to fire on him."_

A brief noise came over the comms between the Megazords; whether it was static or a low growl coming from Savage, none of them could tell.

" _Just make sure you're out of the way when we fire,"_ Tanya remarked, rolling her head around slowly, loosening up her muscles as she locked back into stance with the others.

" _Guys, focus,"_ Isaac pressed, throwing a brief look over his shoulder to Tanya. The two shared a brief look, before returning their eyes forward.

All five of them raised their left arm, bringing the Crimson-coloured arm up and opened up the mouth; a slowly building whirl coming from within, a dim light forming in the centre of the black void between its jaws.

" _Move in,"_ E commanded, striking his blades against one another as his Megazord charged forward, closely followed by Savage's Megazord.

Masutā sent several strikes their way, the curved energy waves getting deflected by the two Megazords, twisting them to strike the ground beside them or sending them flying into the sky. They quickly closed the gap on the Warlord, Savage making the first physical strike, but the Megazord received a strike to the head with the handle of the sword.

Before the Demon could land the follow-up blow, E moved in and blocked the sword, capturing it in a lock and forcing it down to the ground. Though he received an elbow to the head as a retaliation, with Masutā forcing his sword free of the pincer-like lock.

A shot went off just as Masutā reached the top of his arc, striking him for a second time in the chest; right on the spot where his shoulder padding was attached to the main chest armour. He let out a rasp inhale and staggered back, hand clutching the latest smouldering spot; not noticing the attack from behind until the sword struck him, throwing him to the ground.

" _C'mon, don't let up now!"_ E shouted, as he and Savage manoeuvred behind the recovering Masutā. The two exchanged a look, giving each other a wordless confirmation as they reached down. They grabbed either shoulder, forcing the Warlord to stand, pinning his arms against their chests. Masutā grunted and lashed about, trying to break free. Savage tried keeping him in place, ramming his elbow into the side of the Demon's helm, as E twisted the other elbow. _"Mess him up."_

" _Let's do this. Divert all excess power to the Cannons,"_ Isaac ordered, moving with the others as they all raised the other Lightning arm, opening it up and an identical whirling sound started coming from within.

The Demon pinned between Savage and E jerked and shoved against the two Megazords attempting to keep him stationary. His hands clenched up, trying to get a grip to use to his advantage. But no sooner had he managed to twist his wrist around and dug his fingers into the torso metal, a shot struck him in the chest. This stunned him long enough for the Megazords to reaffirm their grip on the Warlord.

He was continuously bombarded by cannon blasts, slamming into his armour repeatedly and ensuring that the cracks only grew deeper. And with each explosion against his chest, Masutā's resistance faltered momentarily, only getting brief glimpses of the Wolf Pack Megazord closing the gap between themselves and himself.

The shots intensified in their power the closer they got to Masutā, the teens clenching and releasing their fists in rapid succession, firing the Wolf Cannons repeatedly, to the point where the exit point of the blasts started to glow with how much heat they were dealing with.

" _We can't keep this up forever,"_ Kyle reported, tearing his eyes away from the assault to look at a flashing alarm on his screen. _"We need to end this, like, right fucking now."_

" _Got it. Savage, Silver wannabe,"_ Isaac shouted down the comms, briefly coming off of the cannon fire to adjust some settings on his screen. The others quickly followed suite, the energy shots coming to a momentary halt; the cannon ends glowing white hot and smoking, as the energy whining lowered a fraction. _"When we say move, you better fucking move."_

" _I swear, if you level the city with whatever it is you're planning…"_ E threatened, a grave undertone to his words as he adjusted his grip on the Demon's forearm; twisting it around to an unnatural angle, E being sure he would have broken the bone by this stage.

If the Demon even had bones…

But this brief lapse of focus was more than enough for it to be too late; E felt Masutā's arm pull against his grip again. Only this time, his grip was loose enough for Masuta to break free, arm jerking forward before suddenly throwing it back. The blow struck the Lone Megazord's torso, sending it flying backwards into the ground as it turned on Savage's Megazord.

" _We're running out of time Isaac!"_ Natalie exclaimed, her voice stressing the situation as Masuta started to reclaim the upper hand.

" _I can see that!"_ Isaac responded frantically, rapidly moving his fingers between the keys as his eyes constantly flickered between the monitors and the sight before them; the latter quickly getting worse, as Masuta jabbed an elbow into Savage's Megazords torso, and manoeuvred around to throw the Megazord over his shoulder and into the ground.

As he reached for his sword and turned back to face the single standing Megazord, Isaac looked over his shoulder. _"Kyle, the power to the cannons?!"_ he questioned, his voice having a frantic edge to it.

" _Everything we've got spare's been re-routed to the cannons. But we gotta fucking hope this finishes him off; otherwise, we're screwed,"_ Kyle responded, flicking his display screen aside as he glanced back to Isaac.

" _Got it. Tyler's got point on this one; everyone, follow his lead,"_ Isaac responded, looking over his other shoulder to give a small nod to the Blue Warrior. _"All yours."_

A brief moment of silence lapsed over the teens, all staring either at Isaac or Tyler.

Despite the impending threat that was in front of them, and the fact it would go unnoticed by the others with her helmet on, Natalie felt a small smile tug at the corner of her mouth.

Tyler gave a small nod to Isaac, both bringing their eyes forward as they and the others got into position. He exhaled slowly, rolling his head against his shoulders as he shifted his stance, bracing one foot against the ground for better support. The others followed suite, and eventually the Megazord itself had dug its heel in and twisted the dirt against the base.

No words came from the Demon Warlord, only a feral snarl came from his helmet, as he twisted his sword around one hand, holding it so the blade was held the opposite direction. He moved his feet back against the ground, and used it like a springboard as he launched forward, rapidly closing the gap between them.

" _Charged!"_ Kyle shouted, looking across at Tyler.

" _FIRE!"_

Glowing energy formed in the base of the cannons, quickly traveling up its length and forming great balls of pent up energy. It rapidly built up, like two balloons forming in the wolf's open jaws; waiting for the moment it would became too much for the energy containment to handle.

And just as Masuta was within striking distance, that point was reached.

Two streaks of light, navy and crimson, burst from the cannons and struck Masuta square in the chest; he barely held onto his sword as the shockwave of the impact hit him. He tried pressing forward, despite the constant-firing that were causing further damage to his already cracked torso.

" _Keep it going!"_ Tyler shouted, teeth git beneath his helmet; something he was sure the others were doing to fight against the increasingly forceful vibrations of the constant cannon fire. Out of the corner of his eye, one of his screens showed the steadily rising temperature of the barrel ends, along with the first of several warnings coming up.

Savage finally got his Megazord back onto its feet again, just now recovering from Masuta's counter-attack. He gave a quick shake of his head, and almost attacked when his sensors picked up something beside him; though that instinctive response still lingered, even after it turned out to be E's Megazord.

" _They've got him pinned, but not for long!"_ E stated, gesturing to the standoff across from them.

Savage turned to look at the aforementioned standoff, and quickly grabbed his weapon. _"We have to strike now; if this Warlord manages to survive it, they'll be defenceless."_ He rushed towards the fight before he had even finished speaking, leaving E staggering to catch up as the two moved in to help.

More chunks of his armour peeled away and fell to the ground under the intense energy, even some of the extensions to his helmet broke off. But despite this, Masutā pressed onward; slowly, but surely, managing to make up the ground between himself and the Wolf Pack.

" _He's getting closer!"_ Tanya shouted.

" _Keep it up! We let up now, we're out! We just have to hold on as long as we can!"_ Isaac exclaimed in response, though his eyes glanced to his own set of readouts, seeing more and more alarms start lighting up as the temperature gauge continued to rise.

" _Well it doesn't look like he's going down any time soon!"_ Kyle observed.

" _What the hell are taking those two too long?"_ Isaac uttered under his breath, giving a quick shake of the head before turning his full attention forward again.

His hands nearly within reach of latching onto the barrels of the Lightning cannon, Masutā had come this far; he wasn't going down that easily. While he fought back, he raised his sword up, trying to maintain a steady hold to ensure a firm strike. **"I...will not…be defeated by pathetic, worthless...huma-!"**

Masutā's statement was abruptly cut short, looking down to his shoulder. A blade had pierced the tattered armour; a quick look to the opposite shoulder confirmed the same, only the glow of bright blue from the blade stood out against his own green glow.

He was forced forward and downward, both E and Savage pressing their Megazords against him, and before he realized it, he was face-to-face with the white-hot core of the blaster-fire. His shouts and grunts were only drowned out by the powerful roar of the cannons. He tried to pull away with the focused cannon fire, but was held in place by Savage quickly grabbing onto the back of his head and nearly pressing it into the mouth of the Crimson Wolf.

" _Come on!"_ Tyler shouted.

" _Why won't this fucker die?!"_ Kyle exclaimed.

But barely a minute since they had forced the Demon to his knees, his green glow suddenly shone brightly, encasing himself within. The sudden surge of light momentarily caught the Warriors and E off guard, instinctively going to shield their eyes. Instantly, and all at once, the Lightning cannons cut out and began powering down, and both E and Savage found themselves pulling their swords free of Masutā's form. And by the time they lowered their arms again, there was a noticeable space between the three Megazords that wasn't there previously.

" _Motherfucker…"_ Tyler uttered, breathing deeply as he and the others tried breathing deeply to recover. Their chest heaved and the cockpit was filled with their deep breaths in and out. Tyler himself definitely felt like he would have fallen over by now, had he not been held up by the controls.

Now, the three Megazords were face-to-face with one another; a pregnant pause forming across the battle-scared plains. Savage slowly looked up from his sword, and across to the Lone Silver Megazord standing beside him.

And his shift in stance didn't go unnoticed by the other Megazords.

" _Well…"_ E started, letting out a deep sigh as he brought his Megazord back a few steps, shifting into a familiar-looking fighting stance. _"I suppose this alliance wasn't to last; especially since I'm going to have to bring you i-"_

A flick of Isaac's wrist cut off the comms with E.

" _Was starting to get annoyed by that bastard's voice,"_ he reasoned, though he highly doubted he needed the excuse. _"What are the cannons looking like?"_

" _If you want to go back to punching you're sorted, but we've got no chance of firing again any time soon,"_ Kyle reported, looking up from the readouts as the temperature gauge ever so slightly lowered.

" _Well, kinda figured that,"_ Isaac uttered under his breath, feeling the others move the Megazord and quickly followed into the same stance, fists clenching close this time.

The mouths of both the Crimson and Navy Zords quickly snapped shut, closing off the still-cooling cannons and bringing them close, in a defensive position as they created a larger gap between themselves and E.

E extended his forearms outwards, but no sooner had the blades shot out over the fists, a sudden burst of blue energy engulfed his Megazord, much to all of their surprise.

" _What the hell?!"_ E shouted to himself, looking around at his controls and readouts, reaching forward to flick a few switches. _"What's going on over there?"_ he demanded through the comms, but static was all he got in response, even after making sure the channel was securely on the D-13 frequency.

Despite his efforts to stop the process, E and his Megazord quickly became fully encased by the energized column, and just as suddenly as it had appeared, the energy column had vanished, taking the Lone Megazord along with it.

" _Uhh…."_ Words seemed to fail Kyle, looking around the cockpit at the others.

" _Guess that's…one way to end it,"_ Tyler finished his sentence for him.

" _Yeah...got that right,"_ Isaac agreed, giving a slight nod as he looked across at Tyler. _"Guess you've…survived getting thrown right into the deep end."_

Tyler turned to look back at Isaac, and a quiet chuckle came from beneath his visor.

" _Proving my worth."_

 **Epilogue**

Division _13 Headquarters_

" _What the hell_ was that about?!"

E literally forced his way out of the enclosed suit of the Ranger suit, squeezing his way through the unfolding panels even before they had completely unfolded open.

Standing there to greet E, Clint stood at the head of several armed D-13 guards standing at attention; Clint himself had adopted a seemingly more relaxed, at ease stance. But even as he approached, demanding answers and fuming with rage-the Wolf Rangers within his reach, and once again, they were taken from him-, E couldn't help but notice that there was something…off about Clint.

He had an air of…something, not right, around him. Enough to raise E's curiosity.

"Fairweather wants to have a…word, with you," Clint responded; again, the slight pause in his words only caused E's curiosity to rise further.

"Very well. Show me where she is, and I'd better get a good reason for pulling me out of there. I had them-"

"That is _precisely_ why you were pulled out, Agent."

The sharpness of the voice was surely enough to cut right through steel. E turned slowly to see the approaching Mrs Fairweather, flanked by a pair of armed guards. And with her voice, combined with her less than pleased look, E had a feeling this could go really bad, _really_ fast.

"Mrs Fairweather, I-"

 _SLAP!_

E's head turned sharply in response to the slap, his jaw tightening as he blinked a couple times. He slowly turned his head back to facing forward again, eyes returning to focus on the shorter female scientist; his cheek, stinging noticeably, definitely felt like it would have a hand-shaped mark there in the next few hours.

"You didn't tell me, that they were kids," Fairweather said, the wording and tone making it clear that it wasn't a question; it was a statement. "You had a kill order put out on _teenagers._ "

"I prefer the term, terrorists," E responded sharply, raising one of his hands slowly to rub against the angry, red part of his cheek. "They think themselves above the law, have been responsible for countless murders, assaults and manslaughters. They are the reason why the population of their city were forced to evacuate their home."

"You've got some power in that hit, I'll give you that," he offhandedly mentioned, lowering his hand back to his side.

"There are ways to go about this instead of going the way you've gone about it!" Fairweather stressed, exasperation clear in her tone, clearly trying to keep herself from exploding into shouts. But the astonishment, or rather disgust, in her eyes spoke volumes.

Clint, as well as the present soldiers, found themselves quickly glancing between the two arguing parties. Waiting for the response that would bring the conversation to an end; to what end that'll be, was anyone's guess.

"There are different methods to go about certain things; but considering the list of crimes we've already got on them, most career-criminals that this country has locked up would know to stay away. So either they are killed, should they ever get the chance to join general lockup, or we deal with them; our way."

"But," E added, his tone switching to a more off-handed tone, "I'll consider a less…lethal approach, for your sake."

Mrs Fairweather's eyes narrowed slightly, the demeaning tone used by the Agent created a disgusted feeling in her stomach. She almost felt one of her hands close in on itself, before quickly stuffing it into one of the pockets of her lab coat. Knowing that with the surrounding soldiers, and Clint, present, she wasn't going to get very far with E here.

Instead, she glanced towards the colossal Megazord, standing in the background of the facility. "Your Megazords energy cells were extremely depleted by the time you dealt with the Samurai-armoured Demon. Your weapons wouldn't have recharged in time."

"Do we know what happened with this Demon?" E questioned, gesturing for Fairweather, as well as Clint and a few of the soldiers, to walk with him away from the Megazord and general working area of the facility.

"We can't confirm a successful defeat, though if prior events are any suggestion, he's probably retreated back to the Demon realm," Fairweather responded, her tone still a bit stiff as she slowly removed her hand from her pocket, clasping it in the palm of the other behind her back.

A low 'hmm' came from the Agent, giving a side-glance towards the head scientist walking alongside him, before turning his eyes forward again as they pushed through a set of double doors, into the more office-like part of the facilities.

"Well…he didn't destroy the Rangers, so they're still a problem on us."

* * *

 _The Den_

"I thought I'd find you here."

Isaac looked over his shoulder slowly, partially turning his body as well to face the familiar voice.

The time between the Megazord fight ending and now seemed to pass in a blur; only in the last ten minutes had it really started to feel like time was actually passing.

"Creature of habit," was his quiet response, offering a faux smirk to Tyler.

But Tyler saw through that false smile of assurance from the Red Warrior; he had that look of regret the second they had arrived back at the Den; as soon as they had unmorphed, he had worn that look. At first, Tyler had assumed, to himself at least, that that was Isaac's neutral expression.

Though the joking thought seemed in poor taste, when he figured out _why_ he wore that look ever since he had met Isaac.

The reason buried in front of Isaac's feet.

Tyler came up to Isaac's side, both of them looking at the disturbed ground before them; immediately, he was brought back to the first time they had really talked to one another, nearly a month ago.

Felt more like an entirely different lifetime.

"You did good today," Isaac spoke up, still facing forward while clearly speaking to the teen stood beside him. "You managed to rein in the bastard Lightning Zords, and don't take it lightly; the regular Zords were bad enough to control, but those guys…" a chuckle and smirk broke across Isaac's expression-both of which seemed genuine-as he shook his head. "Well, they were something else entirely."

"Don't I know it?" Tyler smirked, hands finding their way into his pockets as he looked up from the grave and towards Isaac.

"Hey."

Isaac turned to look across at Tyler, this time turning his entire body away from Matt's grave to face the new Blue Warrior.

"Matt may have been an asshole most of the time," Tyler started, and immediately saw one of Isaac's eyebrow raise. Most likely trying to figure out how this conversation was going to go. As such, he quickly continued, "but if you could get on his good side…Man, he had your back through shit."

"I gave him crap when he deserved it, sure, but you'd be hard pressed to find someone like him. And if he's anything like I knew him, if you got on side with him when you were Power Rangers…you'd be hard press to find someone better to have your back," Tyler commented, arms coming out to fold across his chest.

"Another thing about Matt," he continued, one hand coming out to point absentmindedly. "Stuff like this…he doesn't like hanging onto. Not throwing anything at you, just not Matt's thing."

A low exhale came from Isaac, as he took another long glance towards the ground once again. "Yep…could definitely see that being him," he eventually agreed, looking back around to Tyler with an attempted smile. "And I think I've let this hang long enough."

"We don't forget what we've lost; we honour their sacrifice."

Tyler raised an eyebrow slightly, and a small smirk curled at the corner of his mouth. "You take that shit from some video game or something?"

This brought a full laugh from Isaac, as he took a few steps towards the Den, doing a few backwards steps as he spoke to Tyler. "Something Savage tried drilling into our heads. You'd think some kind of video game, wouldn't you?"

Tyler turned fully to face Isaac again, gesturing behind the Red Warrior. "The others are waiting for us to get back; think they wanted to grab some stuff from the city," he informed.

"Messenger for the others now eh?" Isaac asked with a slight smile.

He got a shrug in response. "Never what I was originally coming out for; though figured you'd want to know, if I managed to talk you around," Tyler responded, walking forward, pausing briefly to give a friendly nudge to Isaac's shoulder before gesturing onward. "C'mon," he walked a few steps further, pausing and looking back when he saw Isaac still standing in place. He had started looking over his shoulder, towards the grave again.

"I'll get who did this," Isaac uttered under his breath, barely audible to Tyler, before he faced forward again and moved to catch up with Tyler, giving him a reassuring smile as he passed him, towards the Den.

Tyler watched him go, before taking his own moment to glance back at the grave.

"Goodbye Matt."

With those words echoing in his ear, Tyler turned back and walked after Isaac, disappearing from sight as they entered the Den.

As they vanished from view of the grave, a set of white, glowing boots slowly stepped into view, on the opposite side of the grave to where the two teens had been standing briefly.

 _"Bye guys."_

* * *

 _Horror's Domain_

"My Master," Batibat formally greeted, bowing briefly as she entered the main chamber of Horror's domain. Her eyes averted themselves to the ground momentarily, only to rise again as she continued along her path. She paused again, standing before the raised throne; atop which, her Master had sat himself.

Death stood at his Masters' side, dropping to bow to one knee as the shadow-cloaked Horror rose, towering over both his subordinates.

" **I see you have been successful in your task, Batibat."**

Even when he was giving praise, Batibat still felt a rush of cold surged up her back, forcing her body to unintentionally tighten; if possible, averting her eyes further from the trail ends of her Masters' robes.

"I do what is asked of me, my Master," she responded quietly, briefly side-glancing as she felt her Masters' presence move past her. Her eyes then rose up, narrowing on Death as he rose up and stepped forward. Eyeing up one of his hands in particular. She didn't like the way his hand seemed to draw around the, currently, bladeless handle of his sword…

" **That, you do…that is what I approve of…"**

She swallowed a sense of growing nerves, feeling them appear all of a sudden and almost coming through to the surface. However, the Demon quickly supressed them again, even as she felt Horror's gaze turn on her back.

" **However…"**

Batibat gasped aloud as she felt a searing hot sensation wrap around her throat, and all feeling through her body was sudden lost. Against her will, she found herself rising up to her feet and turning on the stop, her footwork unsteady as she was brought around to face her Master.

His eyes burned with a deep rage, despite the rest of his body language seemingly calm.

" **It is the ways, in which, you go about your tasks…is what displeases me,"** Horror continued, slowly retracing his steps as he walked passed Batibat again, towards his throne once again. **"You resurrected a fallen Hand…this action of yours is something I do not approve of."**

"If I may make a suggestion as for her punishment, Master-" Death started, taking another small step forward.

" **You may not."**

The cold, commanding cut-off quickly silenced the Demon Warlord, who eventually took a few steps backwards in submission.

Horror turned his attention back to the gasping Batibat, and would have continued talking, had he not been interrupted.

Both Horror and Death turned sharply at the haggard breathing and staggering steps that echoed through the chambers; Batibat only getting to look when the invisible grip around her throat lessened, almost collapsing again as she breathed deeply. And when she saw the smouldering, broken armour plating, she cursed under her breath.

" _ **My…Master…"**_

Masutā stumbled out of the darkness of the cavern, leaning against the wall as he recovered his shaggy breath. His entire set of torso armour was smouldering, cracks running in all directions and with large chunks across the shoulder padding and over the chest ripped away entirely. The pre-established crack through his helmet had grown further, traveling more over the top and down the back, almost enough to simply break the helmet clean in half.

He pushed off of the wall and attempted walking forward, but only barely managed to stay on his feet as he stumbled forward. The Warlord barely managed to stay on his feet long enough to reach his Master, before collapsing to his hands and knees.

His entire body heaving with effort, Masutā managed to force himself up to his knees, weakly raising his gaze to his approaching Master.

" _ **The Pillar…the link has been….re…re-established,"**_ he strained, fighting to keep his head up as Horror came to a stop before him. Behind him, Batibat slowly manoeuvred around to stand behind her Master, now that his attention was solely focused on the kneeling Masutā before him.

She threw a glare at Death as she moved to stand alongside him. "Snivelling weasel," she hissed under her breath.

"There's always next time," Death muttered in response.

The she-Demon threw another glare at her fellow Hand, before both turned their attention back forward.

Horror slowly raised one of his bony hands, bringing to down to rest on the bowed helmet of Masutā. **"You have served me loyally throughout my reign, my Hand. You assisted me in establishing furthest reaching colonies…you are deserving of a great honour."**

" _ **Yes…my Master,"**_ Masutā responded quietly, his glowing eyes focused on the ground, quickly closing them as he let out a low exhale.

A brief moment of silence filled the chambers, both Batibat and Death fearing to even breathe as they waiting in anticipation; wanting to see what would happen in the next few seconds.

And for a single moment, the demented glow of red eyes flashed under Horror's hooded face, and his hand tensed.

A groan of metal briefly strained, but was quickly overtaken by a sickening, fleshy and bony _crack!_

Both Batibat and Death tensed, the former of which briefly closing her eyes and giving a short, sharp inhale. And by the time she opened them up again, the helmet, now split in two, had been thrown across the chambers; one half coming to a rest before them.

The rest of Masutā's body slumped backwards, sprawling across the ground as Horror slowly stepped aside. The headless corpse of the fallen Hand began to smoulder again, catching alight with a green flame as it slowly turned to dust.

" **Make no mistake,"** Horror threatened, approaching his throne once again, turning around to slowly re-establish his seat. **"You two are in no safer spot than that corpse."**

Both Batibat and Death's eyes followed the bony finger, pointing to the fiery remains. One after the other, both Hands turned back to look up to Horror, each giving a slight bow. "We understand, Master," Batibat responded, throwing a dirty side-look towards Death.

Horror brought one of his hands up, resting his unseen chin atop the partial fist, as he slowly looked between the two; first Batibat, then Death, and back to Batibat again.

" **Good…then I suggest you get back to work, and find the remaining Pillars to activate. Only then, will I-"**

"-You will be able to harness a rarely-tapped dark energy frequency…on a global scale that this planet is nowhere near ready for."

Horror turned slowly, while both Batibat and Death leapt forward, weapons drawn and held in a battle-ready stance; Death's now-active blade extending from the handle, highlighting some patches of his body in a sickly green.

From the very same chamber that Masutā had stumbled through moments ago, a rhythmic sound approached. A quieter step, followed by a louder, echoing _clunk,_ grew steadily closer, eventually being accompanied by a faint outline.

As the figure approached, some details were highlighted by the still-burning remains of Masutā; the figure walked with a limp, favouring his right leg, with a small glowing circle, around eye-high, bobbing minutely with his walking difficulty.

"Quite impressive, if I may speak honestly…especially considering your…technological limitations," the shadowy figure stated, his voice slow and purposely lingering on the ending of particular words. His voice having an inorganic tone to it; like it wasn't truly his own…

"Who _dares_ step food in the Master's sacred domain?" Batibat harshly snapped, advancing a step forward threateningly. Her fingers flexed anxiously around her daggers, eyes twitching between the intruder and her fellow Warlord standing beside her.

"Speak now, and your death shall only be mildly excruciating," Death added, taking a slower, more tactical advance.

The figure had stopped, just shy of stepping out into a completely viewable light; only highlighting some parts of his body, including how some fragments of lighting caught a long, red-lined interior coat, and even some that caught his face reflecting off…something, while strangely only illuminating other parts of his head.

A short exhale of air-almost sounding like a cross between amused and insulted-came from the shadows, as slowly, mockingly, he raised his hands up in a look of surrender, and took the finale step closer, into the light.

"I am Admiral Richter Letumors. Liberator of the M51 Galaxy, captain of the flagship, _The_ _God's Hand_ _,_ and, as of this moment in time…" he paused momentarily, lowering his hands, one organic while the other only resembled a hand of metal, and moved them in front of him, carefully pressing his wrists against one another. A small, yet undeniably unsettling, smirk tugged at one corner of his lips, as his eyes-both organic and glaring red, cybernetic replacement-looked from the Warlords, to the Demon sat atop the throne.

"…your prisoner, and visitor to the Planet Earth."

* * *

 **DUN-DUN-DUNNNNNN!**

 **So, yeah...I'm still alive...I think.**

 **I can only apologize for the lack of up updates recently. This chapter just seemed never ending! But, hopefully I'll get more inspiration and, in turn, be able to get these chapters out a lot quicker than recently. Which...isn't gonna be that hard, hopefully.**

 **Anyway, hope you guys enjoy this latest chapter in the story of the Wolf Pack. Until next time!**

 **-Nf991**


	25. Episode 24 - Homecoming(I)

**So, I'm trying a different style of posting these chapters now. I want to get more content out for you guys to read quicker, so I'll be doing this for the next few chapters, see what you guys think.**

 **But anyways! On with the chapter!**

 **-Nf991**

* * *

Episode 24 – Homecoming

 _3 Weeks Earlier_

 _Portland, Oregon_

The rain came down hard and fast, people still running down streets to try and find shelter for the latest heavy shower. Dark clouds hung ominously over Portland, stretching beyond its borders as the heavy rainfall came down faster. Cars drove through rapidly forming puddles that stretched across the street, splashing any unlucky pedestrian that didn't move out of the way in time.

Those that did get hit, making sure their opinions were heard by all those around them.

But one person avoided all the water the drivers tried to hit him with.

Hood up to shield himself from the constant rain, and jacket overtop to keep the inner layers dry, the man passed several stores and restaurants, the light radiating from the windows highlighting some of his features; most noticeably, a completed goatee, along with the tip of hair, black and a touch of silver, barely visible in a curtain-style cut beneath the concealing hood.

"… _And now, the latest update on the Wolves of Pax Valley."_

The man paused mid-step, head turning partially. Despite the heavy rain muffling most other noises, this voice sounded as clear as day. He turned to look aside, finding himself standing in front of a tech store, with a great number of TVs on display and currently showing the same news channel.

It had a middle-aged woman, dark brown hair cut shoulder length and dressed in a dark grey suit, stared into the camera as she spoke. _"After the latest attack on the city of Pax Valley, Nebraska, in which an Electro-Magnetic Pulse-like device was triggered, several of the surrounding states are without power and trying to restore their power grids."_

" _This is only the latest incident concerning the Wolf Pack, who have been drawing attention all across the country, though not all for good reasons. A number of petitions have been gathering momentum online, with collectively over 50,000 people giving their various thoughts on this latest group of Power Rangers."_

"Power Rangers?" the man asked himself, taking a step closer to the window, eyes widening a fraction. "'Wolves of Pax'?" He carefully raised his hands, pressing the palms as the reporter continued.

"… _hile some people appear to be on their side, the majority of the population seems in favour of having sanctions set against this group of Power Rangers. The Canadian Government are reportedly demanding their arrest after an incident that had the Rangers cause tens of thousands of dollars' worth of damage to a protected national park."_

" _We'll keep you up to date with this story as it develops,"_ she finished up, the reporter quickly getting replaced to give several low-quality pictures-most likely the clearest any lingering civilian could get before having to run-layered atop one another, all outlining the same five blurry figures; but with the unmistakable

He remained pressed against the window for a few moments longer, only distantly hearing the male reporter talking about the forecast of the weather.

Power Rangers…. _Wolf_ Power Rangers…

"And I thought those days were over now..." the man uttered to himself, taking a step away from the window, stepping through a large puddle in the process. This didn't matter to him, however, as he quickly turned on the spot, and walked back the way he had been previously walking from.

"Zen's gonna want to know about this…"

He had quickly walked out of the city limits, far beyond where anyone would care to follow him, and diverted off the public path a long time ago. The path he took was well worn in, yet far from the nearest other path often taken by any other residents of the city.

A testimony to just how many times he had taken this path over the past number of years.

Well…not _just_ him.

As the thick brush thinned out into a small clearing, the man didn't even hesitate as a beaten up RV came into view. No-one would have given the seemingly wrecked vehicle a second look, if they were to even cross its path; assuming it to be abandoned, or some sort of remote druggy hangout. Making it perfect for lying low.

"Zen, we're leaving," he stated, not even closing the door behind him as he entered, turning into the kitchen cabinets, wrenching open the storage doors and began rifling through what little supplies they had.

Only now remembering why he had gone into town in the first place…

But he pushed those thoughts aside, simultaneous to his pushing aside of half-emptied jars and tins, searching towards the back of the cabinet. His fingers felt something cold, square shaped, and he quickly pulled it out from hiding.

At the same time, a long, drawn-out _creeaaakkk_ came from the opposite end of the RV. For many, this would have been more than enough to send any stoned and half-drunk trespassers running, but it was something the man who lived with him had become accustomed to.

If anything, the attempt at intimidating silence only annoyed him.

"Zen-Aku, knock it off," the man pressed, cracking open the cash tin, revealing a few crumpled up dollar bills and a littering of coins of various value.

"You only open that in dire circumstances."

The cold, observant voice stated, as the shadowy figure stepped out of the shadows, into what little light was produced by the RV's dimmed internal lights.

"Well…"

The man, stuffing what money he had into his various pockets, turned to look at the anthro wolf, decked out in armour. He raised his hands up and brought his hood down, revealing his face.

"It's something I'm sure you'll have a great amount of interest in, Zen-Aku," Merrick Baliton responded, jaw tightening as he took a few steps closer to the Wolf Org, searching for any trace of curiosity that managed to squeeze out from the stoic mask.

And indeed, over the number of years they had been traveling together, he saw what he was looking for; a slight head tip, arms unfolding to fall back to his sides. Even with the mask concealing the majority of his expressiveness, Merrick could read the Org like a scroll.

"What could it possibly be, for you to be so confident?" Zen-Aku questioned.

Merrick paused for a moment, before he gave a response.

"Trust me…it's going to be something you'll have to see…to fully believe."

* * *

 _Present Day_

"Your titles matter not in the Masters' Realm, intruder!" Batibat snapped viciously, quickly closing the gap towards the self-proclaimed Admiral, and circled around behind him to cut off any attempts to backtrack and escape. "You are nothing in His presence."

Richter's gaze followed Batibat as she abruptly approached, only stopping when she moved out of range and brought his eyes forward again. Well, his organic eye at least.

The robotic one, however, managed to complete a full 180° turn, looking into and through the back of his own head. The cybernetic attachment automatically switched view settings, giving him a crystal-clear image of the glare Batibat was drilling into the back of his head.

"As I have already stated," Richter slowly began, carefully turning on the spot; his cybernetic leg whirling and _clunking_ with the faint shuffling. He stopped upon facing Batibat again, both of his eyes facing the same direction once more. "I am here as a visitor of Earth, and upon stepping foot here, your prisoner. I come here, bringing no threats, nor any impending doom."

"Though that does raise the question…" Death pondered aloud, taking cautious steps towards Richter, who turned around to face the cloaked and hooded Hand. " _How_ exactly did you enter the Realm of Master Horror? You cannot simply…walk into His Realm."

"And how do you think I allowed myself entrance?" Richter asked, raising his eyebrow as he looked the Demon, a few inches shorter than his frame, up and down briefly. He flashed a brief, faux smirk as he answered, "You present someone with a doorway, and curiosity will get the better of them." One corner of his lips twitched a fraction more. "Every time."

" **I find it hard to believe…"**

All eyes present turned to face Horror, who had remained sat on, fist still support his chin, despite the intruder in his Realm. The Master's burning red gaze rose to rest upon the unflinching Richter.

" **That simply curiosity is what brought you here, Admiral. You possess a…vast knowledge, which exudes great familiarity with our incantations and power."**

"You are a man…well, a _being_ of magic and mysticism…Horror, I would presume? I haven't been formally introduced, you see," Richter pondered, going to take a step closer to Horror and his throne. But was quickly reminded of the Demon standing in front of him, who brought his weapon dangerously closed to the robotic-side of his face.

" **Stand aside, my Hand."**

Death looked over his shoulder, his gaze lingering on his Master as if considering to question the order, before turning back to the expectant Richter. With visible reluctance, Death lowered his sword and after giving the intruder another deadly look, silently stepped out of the way.

Richter looked back from Death to Master Horror again, and after another lingering look to make sure his path wouldn't be blocked, took a couple of slow steps forward. He raised his cybernetic hand, extending out the fingers as he continued, "And I…as you can see, am a man of technology and scientific advancements. But where I'm from, the line where one ends and the other begins…well, the edges are very blurry."

"But you are right," Richter continued, lowering his hand again and bringing both of them to fold behind his back. "It was not simply curiosity that brought me to this planet."

"Then what was it then?" Batibat snapped, coming back around Richter's side and sneered at him as she returned to stand at her Master's side. Death doing the same, only on the opposite side of the throne.

"Hm. Feisty _and_ impatient. A volatile cocktail, if it measured incorrectly," Richter dryly mused.

Batibat's glare turned sour and she looked ready to reach for her weaponry again; only stopping when she felt her Master's steely gaze burning into her scalp. She slowly regained her posture, throwing a dangerous glare at Richter as he resumed addressing the Master.

"I have been following something, across the galaxy; something…extremely powerful. It crashed onto this planet not that long ago."

"The Silver Warriors' crystal," Batibat interjected, glancing up to the Master. "A comet crashed into the human world, and the humans were able to get possession of it."

"Ah…Warriors? Is that what they're calling Power Rangers nowadays?" Richter asked, organic fingers drumming against his robotic wrist as he looked between the three in front of him.

Batibat turned to glance at the intruder, before taking a small step forward to stand in front of her Master. "My Master, surely we have no use of this...intrusive, over-knowledgeable _Admiral._ He comes into our World, passing through spells undetected and gets as far as your throne room. How could he possibly be trusted?"

"This over-knowledgeable Admiral also happens to have excellent hearing, just might I add," Richter interrupted, clearing his throat loudly. As a result, he got a sinister glare from Batibat over the shoulder, but easily brushed it off as she turned back to face the Master.

" **Those questions, come in time, Batibat. But** _ **you**_ **..."** Horror slowly rose from his seat, prompting his subordinates to kneel. He stepped down from the raised podium his throne sat upon, and spoke again once he had passed both Batibat and Death. **"Are not the one to ask these questions."**

The she-Demon dared risking a glance behind her Masters' back, her stoic expression faltering slightly at the berating. But she quickly got it back under control when he went to look over his shoulder, eyes firmly remaining on the ground beneath her.

Seemingly satisfied, Horror turned back to look towards Richter once again. Slowly, he advanced, step by step.

But the Admiral remained steadfast, standing at ease as the menacing Horror approached him. His robotic eye whirling and going through various different zooms and readouts. "Just so you know, I didn't come here to step on anyone's toes," he said, as Horror finally came to a stop, only a couple of meters separating the two of them. "I am here to give closure to the few survivors of the Decimator."

" **The Decimator?"** Horror questioned, and Richter was sure that, if he could see underneath the hood, the Demon had one of his eyebrows raised in question. If he…had…eyebrows.

"…What you call the 'Silver crystal'. It has been the last thing many civilizations have seen; though from how you speak of it, you very clearly know the potential this…crystal, has," Richter continued, hands coming from behind his back to relax at his side.

" **Why come here? You seem to know where to find the Crystal, and yet you come here; where we clearly do not have possession of it,"** Horror responded questionably.

"You are correct; while I have been tracking the main source, I picked up a secondary signal that led me right here. Or, rather…" Richter brought his robotic hand up, and a faint red light appeared in his palm as he turned it to face Horror.

Both Batibat and Death moved forward on instinct, but Horror rose one of his hands to keep them back as the light in Richter's palm slowly faded. His other hand came across and tapped a few, unseen buttons. "It led me to you."

" **As it should be. I was given form by an essence of the Crystal,"** Horror informed, unfolding one of his hands to gesture to himself. **"But that is not the main concern as of this moment."**

"You are right," Richter responded, "I have a mission to complete."

Horror looked at Richter for a moment, both sharing a brief showdown in silence; only to be interrupted by Batibat.

"My Master," she piped up, one hand raised, palm opened up and facing the ceiling of the chambers; a green orb of wispy energy formed, held in shape by her fingers. "Something has entered the territory. Something…no, can't be…"

" **What is it, Hand?"** the impatience in Horror's voice quickly rose.

Batibat looked to the orb in her hand again; she needed to be sure she was seeing correctly.

"A…A…An Animarium Warrior…and a…Org, but…this one is different."

 _Pax Valley_

"High strike! Now low! Low! Aim for the shins!"

Savage's orders came out as sharp barks, echoing across the clearing where the teens were being trained. They were spit into pairs, sparing with one another with their Warriors' curved blades. They cut cleanly through the hair, only missing flesh and bone by the reaction time of the other; though a notable number of partially-healed cuts littered nearly every pair of shins. Grunts of effort and growing agitation came from some of them, in particular the sparing pair of Isaac and Tyler, both throwing their own looks at the Wolf Man.

Tanya, it seemed, was the lucky one out; having no sparring partner that wasn't Savage was reason enough. But MUTT had added to her not taking part in the sparing session; according to him, she was suffering from some lingering injures from the Fight at Fuji. Even her protests didn't stop MUTT from…for lack of a better word, _mothering_ over them.

God, even thinking that made her eye roll.

"Stop!" Savage barked, a faint growl clawing at the end of the command. Out of the corner of her eye, Tanya saw Savage shaking his head slowly, as she saw the others shift back into relaxed stances and partially turned to the shouting Wolf-man. "Kyle."

"Yeah?" the named Warrior answered, digging his blade tip into the ground to use it as support for leaning on.

"You are still carrying an injury." Definitely a statement; his tone alone carried no questioning to it.

Tanya, and the other teens, glanced across to Kyle, whose eyes visibly widened momentarily before quickly settling back into a more relaxed look. He raised a hand, brushing off the accusation with a dismissive _'pfft'._ "You're seeing things that aren't real, Savage. Probably need your eyes checked or something."

"Is that so?" Savage's eyes narrowed at the dismissive tone from Kyle, and the small smirk _immediately_ fell from Kyle's face when Savage walked away.

"You're in for it now," Tanya warned, giving her smirk as Savage vanished behind them. "He's gonna beat the shit out of you just to prove a point."

"Should I start getting a tombstone ready?" Tyler questioned, blade resting, blunt-side, across his shoulders, looking between the others. This elected a few smirks and laughs from the others, while all it got out of Kyle was a glare.

"Listen here, wise ass-" Kyle warned, but he didn't get to finish before Savage returned.

Now armed, and trench coat toss up into one of the lower branches of a nearby tree, bearing his fur, Savage effortlessly flipped the blade around, grabbing the other hand just before the sharpened tip touched the ground. Not a single blade of grass was harmed.

"Since you claim to not have any injures, you shouldn't be opposed to a more intense spar, with myself," Savage stated.

Tyler looked across, and he had to stiffen his jaw to keep a smirk from involuntarily forming. He didn't think it possible for of Kyle's skin tone to get any paler. But he was mistaken.

"O…OK." The words tumbled from Kyle's mouth, and he was suddenly aware of the gap the others gave him, as they retreated to the side lines with Tanya.

Savage passed him, his strides impatient and claws tearing the ground he walked upon; Kyle could feel the agitation radiating from the Wolf man. He turned on the spot, and followed Savage a short distance away.

"Leg injury?" Tyler asked, looking around for Isaac. Seeing the Red Warrior retreating a bit further, sitting at the base of a nearby tree with Tanya.

"Think so; saw some damage to the right leg after Fuji, just never saw him have it looked at," Isaac responded, one arm draped across Tanya's shoulder; she shuffled a bit closer, leaning her head against his shoulder.

"And now Savage is gonna make him suffer for keeping an injury untreated," Natalie explained, giving a small shake of her head as she sighed. "I'll go get MUTT ready."

And with that, she headed off, grabbing her white Blade from the ground as she headed off. Leaving Tyler watching from the side with the love birds.

Meanwhile, Savage and Kyle were facing one another, each adapting a battle-ready stance; Kyle adopting a high, defensive stance, left hand leading. While Savage held a neutral stance, blade held with only one hand. Savage brought the blade up all of a sudden, pointing the sharpened tip to Kyle.

"Take point," he instructed, remaining in place as his sharp eyes watched for even the slightest hint of an incoming attack.

But Kyle remained still for the moment, fingers drumming the steel of his Blade, eyes darting between Savage and the distant teens watching from a distance. His options were dwindling a lot faster than he would have liked.

"Well?" Savage asked, a bit of a growl showing his patients growing thin.

"Shit…" Kyle audibly responded, shuffling into a better stance, holding his blade in a more attack-ready stance.

Though Savage saw the slight uneasiness that plagued every slight adjustment; his sympathies, however, weren't out for Kyle. He'd brought it on himself, and Savage was going to make sure he saw the error of his lies.

In a feeble attempt to catch Savage off guard, or knowing that this was going to end badly regardless of when he attacked, Kyle finally went on the offensive, closing the gap between them rapidly.

But Savage simply side-stepped, sticking one of his legs out as Kyle went for an in-range attack; at the same time, he twisted around to shove one hand against the centre of the teen's back. These two combined to see Kyle slamming into the ground, weapon scatting off to one side as his groan of pain was muffled by the ground.

"Ouch," Tyler uttered under his breath, wincing like he felt the very impact Tyler had experienced.

"Yeah…that's gotta hurt," Tanya agreed, sitting up from Isaac slightly to get a better look at what was happening.

Savage stabbed his own blade into the ground, and approached the still-downed Kyle. His trouser legs had rolled down slightly; one leg revealed several untreated cuts, dry blood starting to stick to the fabric of the trousers.

"You have left wounds untreated," he stated, crouching down beside Kyle, getting a closer look at the injured leg; narrowing his gaze when he spotted some of the dried blood. "And left untreated, disease and infection runs rampant."

He grabbed Kyle by the collar, and lifted him up from the dirt, sitting him up properly while being mindful to keep the injured leg up from making contact with the dirt. "Your health is a priority, because if you are not healthy, you cannot fight. And if we cannot fight due to injuries, we lose."

"Yeah, thanks for that," Kyle uttered under his breath, glancing off to the side.

Savage looked up to Kyle, and gave a deep exhale. "Go see MUTT, and get it seen to." He rose up to his feet once again, offering a hand for Kyle to take; the teen took the offer, and the together they got Kyle back onto his feet. Savage gave Kyle a pat across the back as he headed off, carefully limping back towards the Den.

Watching him off, Savage then turned back to look at the other Warriors and swiftly approached them. "Tanya, you're up; I'm sure you can handle Tyler one-handed," he commented, looking between the teens. His words brought a few chuckles from a few of them, and a glare from Tyler.

"Oh I'm sure I can manage that," Tanya responded, flashing a smirk across at the dark-skinned teen as she got to her feet, taking the Blade offered to her by Savage.

"Don't let the side down," Isaac called as Tyler stepped up, taking his Blade from the ground as he and Tanya approached Savage. They stood before the wolfman, Tanya taking a moment longer as she figured out how she was going to hold her Blade with her restrained hand. When she settled on a position she was comfortable with, both she and Tyler briefly looked across at Savage.

"Ready? Ready?" Savage questioned, looking between Tanya and Tyler, one after the other.

"Yep," Tanya confirmed, while Tyler only gave a slight nod.

Savage opened his mouth, ready to pit the two against one another; only…the barking command never came.

Tyler was the first to notice the prolonged silence; sure, he had experienced long periods of silence from Savage during his short time, but they were usually accompanied by a few glares and only interrupted by growls. This though…this felt different. He looked around to Savage, and blinked in surprise by what he saw.

Savage seemed…almost in a state of shock; looking off into the distant, ears perked up and body rigid. His chest was visibly rising with heavy breaths, and nearly all of the teens noticed when Savage had to step back to avoid falling backwards.

"Savage?" Tyler dared to ask.

His name seemed to break Savage out of the trace-like state he was in; turning sharply to look at the source of the voice. Though his breathing was still visibly deep, as his eyes darted between the teens as they stared back at him.

"Uh…you OK?" Tanya questioned.

Savage looked between Tanya and Tyler again; only this time, there wasn't that hardened edge present. And for the briefest moments, Savage seemed at a loss for words. This didn't last for long, however, as he quickly recovered and cleared his throat.

"Yes…Yes…" he responded, low and uncertain. "I…There's something that…that needs my attention." Savage looked around at the others, vaguely gesturing across to one of them. "One of you…you, keep an eye on them…while I…yes…" Savage didn't seem entirely there, as he slowly walked off, leaving the teens to watch him as he quickly vanished from sight.

"Is…he alright?" Tyler asked, looking back around to the others.

"Haven't seen him like that before…so it can't be good," Natalie responded, a look of worry crossing her face as the Wolfman vanished beyond the treeline. "Seemed almost…spooked."

* * *

Merrick slowly made his way through the thick woods that surrounded Pax Valley, rucksack slung over one shoulder as he stepped over fallen trees and followed brief trail segments. And aside from the distant bird calls and occasional twig that cracked beneath his foot, one could have easily mistaken for the man to have been traveling through the wilderness alone.

But he wasn't alone. Far from it.

In the trees above him, the more supportive branches slowly bent and groaned, with unexpected weight suddenly being applied to them; forming a similar trail to Merrick beneath him. Most would have questioned what purpose this would serve, especially in an area so remote, but for the human beneath the movements, it had become almost second nature to him at this stage.

Even when the creaking of branches stopped, Merrick didn't feel any sort of anxiety or nerves starting to build. And when he came to a brief stop in the middle of his tracks, it was followed by the near-silent rush of air that accompanied something landing from the trees.

What _did_ catch his attention, however, was a low, underlying _'Hmm…'_ that came from behind him. It held…suspicion, along with something that he couldn't quiet put his finger on. What was it?

"Something the matter?" he asked, turning around partially, finding the Wolf Org coming up alongside him, looking all around much like he was doing earlier.

The black leather-and-armour combo worn by Zen-Aku stood out against the trees and bushes, even with shadow cast over all the area; as if it absorbed any light that shone down upon them. No animals of the forest would come anywhere near them; and even if they would, Zen-Aku's piercing yellow gaze and sensitive hearing would have picked up anything remotely close with ease.

"Hmm…" the Duke Org uttered under his breath, a low, yet sharp, exhale escaping through the vents in his mask. At Merrick's question, however, he paused momentarily, yet didn't turn around to face him. "Nothing…thought I heard something. Must have been the wind…" came the gruff reply.

OK, _that_ started triggering alarms bells in Merrick's head, though he kept any of this showing from through his face. Despite the Wolf Org refusing to turn and face him, Merrick knew to be weary of how he expressed himself. Especially when it was directly linked to him. So he didn't press the matter, and instead took the moment to take a closer look at their surroundings.

"We should make camp for the night not far from here; wouldn't be a good idea to get too close to the city," Merrick finally broke the silence once again, shrugging the backpack off his shoulder and set it down beside the nearest tree. "Don't want to get too close in case we r-"

He turned to explain his plan of action to Zen-Aku, but found the spot he had been standing absent; only the faintest shuddering of leafs in the tree above. Merrick gave a slow inhale, eyes closing momentarily. "…In case we run into those Rangers."

 _\\\\\\\/_

' _Why does this place seem so…familiar?'_

The thought echoed throughout Zen-Aku's mind, searching for answers both within his own thoughts and from what he could see from his spot in the tree. His vantage point provided him with a wide view of the territories they had entered; with the city in the distance, it was surrounded by a varied mix of wide clearings and thick forests, firmly encasing the large man-made structures in a prison of nature.

But it was the distant towers of stone and glass that caught the Org's attention the most; even at the distance like they were now, his highly-tuned hearing picked up nearly everything from the constant human rabble. The number of times he had a throbbing pain form in the back of his skull-Merrick telling him it was called a 'head-ache' when it first happened along their travels-were far too many to count.

But he also picked up when the 'headaches' didn't appear when they should. And this time...

There was silence. Not a sound from the city. Only the distant and near bird calls from the surrounding trees, and various rattling and ruffling Merrick was making with his rucksack beneath.

" _Yet, there's something about this place…'_ The Org hmm'd under his breath, what fur was free of his armour and mask ruffling in the gentle breeze. His burning yellow eyes slowly closed, inhaling the scent of his surroundings, optimistic as to whether or not this would somehow assist him. His hand slowly moved down his side, fingers coming to rest on the handle of his dagger. Though he made no move to remove it from its sheath, Zen-Aku kept it there; much like how his mind was occupied, at least hand was resting on something…familiar.

\\\\\/

Not far from where Zen-Aku had perched himself and Merrick had started setting up, a crimson-clad Savage slowly moved through the overgrown grass and bushes, pushing them aside to forge a path through the previously untouched fields. The distance seemed so much larger than the Wolf remembered, though he knew the reason why it seemed like that…

The sunlight caught the battered and scarred design his armour had evolved into, far beyond any chance of restoration. Even the mask he wore hadn't escaped intact, the crimson coat of paint chipped, scratches overlapping one another. One would think a good blow with shatter it into pieces.

Any blow, that is, except the one that struck him as he passed into the next field.

Savage was brought to a dead stop, involuntarily taking a sharp inhale; receiving an addition smack of the scent right in the face. He forced his eyes shut, thinking in vain that it would somehow help block any and all mental images from forming. But with his eyes closed, he was very aware of his racing heartrate, beating like a tribal drum in his chest. And even when he managed to open his eyes and restore them to a trained, harden glare, Savage found signs of tension still lingering.

A quick look down found his hands tightly clenched into fists, the leather glove beneath the armour plating drawn tight. Even when he forcefully unclenched, the faintest shaking was still very visible to him.

" _You're shaking."_

Savage turned sharply, a snarl barely forming on his muzzle, only to fade just as suddenly. His eyes widened, and for a brief moment, found his breath caught in his throat and unable to breath.

" _Have you not held a weapon before?" the wolf, not that dissimilar to Savage, questioned, eyebrows cocked in interest. His fur a subtle blend of black and dark grey shades, only partially visible beneath the similarly coloured armour plating and cloth; an equally obsidian-shaded blade dug into the dirt beside him._

 _A far-younger Savage looked between the sitting Wolf and the blade he held in his hand; far shorter than the one the older Wolf was armed with, but made from a similarly-treated metal. His fingers flexed around the grips, giving off a far more anxious vibe instead of a confident, battle-ready one. "Haven't trained with a real one yet," he sheepishly admitted, ears partially folded back._

 _A quiet sigh came from the older Wolf, with a small shake of the head accompanying him as he stood, flicking his blade around and adjusting his grip to hold it more like a traditional sword. This action promoted Savage to do the same, ears still folded back as eyes followed the slowly circling elder Wolf._

" _A promise was made with your father; though your brother in blood is occupied with…other matters, it seems like I'll be the one to take the responsibilities," he claimed, flicking his blade around and slid his hand down to the other handle, bringing the blade into a less traditional, reverse grip._

 _Savage nodded slightly, looking down to his own blade, slowly bringing the smooth side to rest on his other palm, briefly returning his gaze to meet the elder Wolf, now he was standing before him once again._

" _And I am nothing, if not a Warrior of my Word."_

Savage closed his eyes again, looking away briefly as his fists clenched up again. When he was able to open them again, he could confirm that the field he stood in was empty, safe for himself. The only trail in the overgrowth was what he had left behind, and no-one else in sight. He was alone.

"I believed you back then, Naku…" the words were barely audible to his own ears, turning to look back at the direction he was originally heading in. His hardened glare narrowed, as he managed to bring himself to walk again, further breaking down the grass under his heavy steps.

"But now, I'm not so sure."


	26. Episode 24 - Homecoming(II)

Homecoming(II)

"Hey MUTT?" Natalie called, as she and the others filed into the Den's main control room. It hadn't been long after Savage had left unexpectedly, did Tanya thoroughly kick Tyler's ass one-handed. That seemed to be the highlight of the sparring session, though it was also one of the few moments they spent in the impromptu sparring area. "Do you know where Savage ran off to?"

MUTT was just finishing attending to Kyle's untreated leg when they came through the doors, throwing aside the bloodied wipes and cutting the loose stitching thread. He looked up as the other Warriors approached, treating their weapons with noticeably more care.

" _I do not keep tabs on his location,"_ MUTT answered briskly, gesturing to Kyle that he was done, and turned back to put aside his medical equipment. Kyle slowly sat up, mindful of the tenderness in his leg as he sat up, pushing himself off the table with a slight grunt. He limped off a few steps, before Isaac moved in to help him to a proper seat.

"Thanks," he said with a small smile, finally letting out a sigh as he got comfortable on the chair. Isaac quickly moved on around the table the chair was up against. The towel across his shoulder quickly fell onto the table.

"Gonna go shower," he called, as he vanished beyond the other doors. The others gave their own individual responses, though Tanya gave it a few seconds before she quickly followed after. Though from the looks she and Isaac had exchanged previously, they didn't let subtlety take over their intentions.

When the doors closed a second time, Tyler and Kyle both turned to look at the door, before turning to look at one another. "They're really going to…?" Tyler asked, scratching the side of his neck as he allowed a limited wondering of his mind.

"Do you really want an honest answer to that?" Kyle asked back, a look spreading across his face to back himself up.

And it was a combination of these efforts that quickly brought Tyler's to his answer. "Yeah…good point."

"So, you don't keep tabs on Savage?" Natalie questioned, one eyebrow raised as she leant back against the table MUTT was working at, her arms folded while his fingers rapidly moving across the keyboard. "Seems a bit unlike you, MUTT; keeping tabs on us a while back."

" _Savage has specifically requested I not keep track of him,"_ MUTT responded, sparring a side look at the Natalie as he slowly moved across to work on another computer. When he moved, Natalie quickly slid into the place MUTT previously occupied.

" _You won't find anything on there,"_ MUTT's voice came just as her fingers found the keys to access the secured computer. _"Besides, you won't be able to access the computers in here for a while."_

A faint frown appeared across Natalie's face at this, as her hands slowly found their way onto the desk either side of the keyboard. "Seriously? Because Kyle thought it was a good idea to look up porn while everyone else was asleep-"

"Yeah seriously though, dude, you need to see a psychiatrist," Tyler interrupted, gesturing across to the Black Delta-powered teen. "I mean, some of the noises that came from those videos…even Jesus can't save you."

Kyle's response was simple; an eye roll, accompanying the dismissive wave.

"Besides," Tyler quickly rose from the edge of the table and approached Natalie and MUTT, hands sliding into his pockets. "We're just worried about Savage. I mean, shit, that was the first time I've seen him have that look. And that look wasn't a good one, that's for fucking sure."

"Yeah," Kyle agreed, leaning back against his chair to see the others; could have been easier to ask Tyler to side-step, but whatever. "That was a look that says he's seen shit."

Natalie looked across at Kyle, raising one eyebrow slightly. "I'd say less 'seen crap', more…shock, with some…thing mixing it up. Can't think what though."

The others quickly lapsed into silence, thought consuming the teens as each tried to figure out what was missing in their assessment of Savage's uncharacteristic reaction. But though her mind was preoccupied with this, Natalie couldn't help but notice how MUTT had grown quiet as well, his fingers coming to a stop against the keys.

It was at this point, Natalie suddenly realized she wasn't sure what to say MUTT was doing; processing, obviously, but…there was something about the subtler movements-the slight head tilt, as if listening for something she hadn't heard, the way the robotic fingers hesitated to continue typing numerous times, among others she had seen-that seemed far too organic for his cybernetics to fake. Natalie sometimes wondered just _what_ MUTT was exactly.

She had been so caught up in her thoughts, that when MUTT spoke all of a sudden, her knee-jerk reaction was to look at anything _other_ than MUTT. But nothing came into view quick enough, so she simply settled on looking at her worn trainers.

" _While I do not know exactly where Savage is gone, what I_ do _know is that wherever he has gone, he has taken his armour with him."_

"Why'd he take his armour with him?" Kyle questioned, looking around at the room, as if somehow the walls would be the ones to answer his questions. "Pretty sure there haven't been any Demon sightings."

"Yeah," Tyler agreed, looking from Kyle and back to MUTT again. "Besides, you would have told us if any Demons decided to rear their fulgy mugs. Right MUTT?"

Natalie expected to hear MUTT's response shortly after Tyler's question, but after a few moments of silence, she did start to wonder what MUTT was thinking of saying. But just when she expected him to speak, if he was going to, they were all cut off when an alarm sounded from the consoles.

MUTT immediately acted, walking around to deactivate the blaring alarm and flashing light, and began looking into the alarm.

"Demons?" Tyler asked, not sure whether to be serious, in the potential matter at hand, or to attempt a half-smirk at the previous conversations' topics; whether fate had listened to them, in one way or another.

" _In a way; appears that a group of the human militia has tried to enter the city, though a pod of Wolkeins seems to have turned up at the same time. They've engaged, though the humans are suffering losses."_

"Oh, so a two for one, eh? Lucky, lucky day," Kyle replied with a shard of sarcasm, as he tried standing once again; but the moment he tried putting pressure on the recently stitched leg, he took a pained breath through his teeth.

" _I think you should stay here for now, Kyle,"_ MUTT informed, manoeuvring around Tyler to approach Kyle, as he slowly took his seat once again. _"You've started to build a resistance against the smaller doses of Instinct I've been giving you, so I've had to increase the dosage. This does have the negative side-effect of taking longer to take effect, due to the resistance."_

"So it's just me and Nat again?" Tyler asked, looking across at the girl he named as he slowly followed in the footsteps of MUTT. A nod from the robot confirmed Tyler's question.

"Look at it this way," Natalie tried to comfort, walking around the consoles again. "Think of it like when they were in Japan; only…we're doing something the entire time," she gave a small shrug, heading towards the same door they had walked through not fifteen minutes earlier.

"Yeah, 'cause only dealing with Demons and shit towards the end was _so_ boring," Tyler remarked, and Natalie found herself he wasn't fighting to stay afloat in the midst of all his sarcasm. But all she showed was a small chuckle as a smirk crossed Tyler's own lips, the pair of them quickly heading towards the door.

"Don't worry MUTT, we'll take care of it," Natalie called, reaching the part where the doors automatically slid open.

"No need to disturb the fuck buddies," Kyle called from his spot across the room.

While the comment brought a chuckle out of Tyler, Natalie only responded with a half-hearted smile tugging at one corner of her lips. She was sure he hadn't done it intentionally, but she couldn't help picking up on the edge to Kyle's words. Not a resentful tone, more of a…lacking a better word, he sounded pissed off.

But she quickly shook her head of this thought process, and called back, "Same goes for you!" as she and Tyler vanished beyond the closed door.

Kyle rolled his eyes slightly, shifting in his seat to look across at MUTT. "I think she was talking to you."

" _I highly doubt that."_

\/

A sigh slowly passed his lips as he slowly slid down the side of the nearest tree, coming to a rest when he was sitting against the base. Merrick had spent the best part of the last half hour setting up the small clearing for the pair of them; not that it was a difficult task to complete. Gather some firewood, making sure that he had somewhere comfortable to sit. Not much was needed for a bed.

He had grown to like sleeping under the stars.

But even as he tried to relax, Merrick couldn't help but flick his gaze up to the tree opposite him. He hadn't seen any movement in the entire time he had been working. Not even the slightest quiver of a disturbed leaf. And while he was used to silence and stillness from Zen-Aku, in ways that some would definitely find unnerving, this was something else entirely.

Merrick almost lost track of just how long the pair of them had been wandering the country, ever since they had parted ways with the Wild Force Rangers. They had travelled the length and breadth of the States, or at least most of it. They never stayed in one place for very long; Merrick only held small jobs, washing dishes in greasy spoons and the like before they found themselves on the move again.

Turns out being stuck to a cursed Wolf mask for 3,000 years didn't count for much when people were looking to hire him. Though it wasn't as though Merrick _wanted_ any of these jobs; and it wasn't like Zen-Aku had any need for the 'dirty coin' as he called it. In fact the only reason he got as many part-time jobs as he did was to not draw unwanted attention from other people. Namely the smell whenever he went into the local town to get supplies, and the occasional jacket.

It brought him back to his younger days, with the Rangers.

And Shayla.

While one hand was preoccupied with twirling a small stick he had picked up while sat down, the other slowly slide into his back pocket and pulled something out. He carefully opened up the twice-folded picture, the faint creases down and through the middle giving it a slight bend. But the picture was still in good condition.

He still remembered the day it was taken; their encounter with the Time Force Rangers, the fight against the Mut-Orgs. And, as the picture reminded him whenever he look at it, the picnic in the aftermath of the day. While he couldn't recall which one of the Rangers snuck the picture, there were definitely times when he was glad they did. Him and Shayla, half-sat, half-lying across the bench as they watched something in the distance; Merrick vaguely remembered watching Cole and Wes' race.

It reminded him of a time long since gone, a time where things…could have been different.

Merrick gave a sharp exhale, letting his hand fall down against his knee, the picture slipping out of view. He had learned a while ago to not linger on what could have been and pats that nearly were; he'd made more than enough decisions that brought potential futures to a swift end.

One of the first being in the still trees above him.

But it was a ruffle in the bushes that broke his concentration; his gaze quickly flicked to the left, nimbly folding the picture with a single hand and slid it into his back pocket as Merrick slowly rose back onto his feet. Something seemed off about the disturbed bushes, however; the quaking leafs came from the middle of the bushes. It wasn't stemming from the ground up, like it would if a rabbit or bird suddenly darted through.

"Wait."

Merrick didn't even flinch when the gloved hand slowly squeezed his shoulder; he had heard the near-silent descent from the trees. He even picked up the trained, silent steps come up behind him. But he wasn't remotely afraid of this; his sense of smell and hearing was far more tuned than the average human, picking up the faint trace of Zen-Aku approaching. So he remained in place, watching as Zen-Aku slowly moved through his peripheral vision and cautiously approached the bush.

But he couldn't help but notice the slight stiffness in the Org's stance and movement.

Zen-Aku slowly pulled his dagger-flute from it sheath, inhaling deeply to get as much information of their surroundings as possible. Surely he would have picked up any approaching scent, putting him further on edge.

' _But something isn't right.'_

Though he tried to keep it concealed, Zen-Aku found himself growing more and more irritated by the feeling of not knowing. And that only made him angrier. This become apparent when he suddenly lashed out, a low growl breaking through as his sliced through the top of the bush.

The blade cut cleanly through leafs and stems, the force throwing the torn shrubbery to one side. He quickly advanced, looking through the new gaps he had created. The dagger was raised, ready to bring down on the potential of a risk.

"What is it?" Merrick's voice cut through the silence, finding it quickly growing strain as his muscles wanted to shift into a fighting stance, just in case. Though his days of fighting were long behind him, he still found himself following the same routine day in, day out. But judging by how Zen-Aku slowly lowered his raised blade, he figured he wouldn't need to spring into action.

Until a new voice stepped in.

"You know…"

Both Zen-Aku and Merrick turned sharply on the spot, Merrick shifting into his prepared defensive stance and Zen-Aku held his dagger at the ready. But what they were greeted with, neither of them were ready for.

Merrick's eyes widened, the sight of the wolf-like creature not what he was expecting at all. He was sat upon a partially fallen log, clad in armour that bared quite a few similarities to Zen-Aku's own; the same grooves in the plating, the same patches of fur visible through gaps in the armour, his glowing yellow gaze mirroring that of Zen-Aku's burning glare. He even wore a similarly shaped mask, though visibly suffering far more damage. The only differences he could see right off the bat, really, was the lack on Org horn, and the obvious colour swap; the crimson stood out against the surrounding greenery like an open wound.

"I find it odd, how a Warrior of your calibre, would be fooled by such a novice distraction," the crimson-plated Wolf leaned forward, his burning glare never once parting. "Have you lost your edge, brother?"

Even his _words_ held a very Zen-Aku-like sharpness to them, Merrick noted, as his eyes briefly flicked over to the Duke Org beside him; he seemed to be the one this wolf creature was focusing most of his effort on.

Yet Zen-Aku had yet to say a single word, his glare returning the one he was receiving. His grip around the dagger slowly tightened, fingers flexing as he tried to wordlessly get a handle on this lookalike. This…Warrior resembled him in many ways, but Zen-Aku knew of no other Wolf Orgs, let along Duke Orgs, that had this creatures' appearance. And at the same time, he couldn't escape the quiet, nagging feeling in the back of his mind. That he… _knew_ this mysterious creature.

The silence eventually grew too much for the Wolf, whose glare narrowed. A snarl tore from his throat as he suddenly stood up. This reaffirmed the tension in Merrick, hands raised again as Zen-Aku cautiously brought his dagger up a fraction. And the tension between the two were brought to an all-time high when a weapon mysteriously formed in the Wolf's hands; though Merrick noted how it closely it resembled Zen-Aku's own Crescent Blade.

"We mean you no harm," Merrick finally spoke up, drawing the attention of both Zen-Aku and this other Wolf creature to him. And despite the fact the pair of them wore masks, he could easily tell they were giving him the same look, just with different levels of intensity.

The Wolf slowly raised his blade, pointing it accusingly at Merrick; while a sizable gap was still between the two groups, Merrick did spare a brief glance down to the sword tip pointed at him. "This is not your concern, Animarian; I would suggest that all you bring to this conversation now, is _silence._ "

Merrick's eyes widened at the sharp comment, but the sharp comment on his contribution wasn't the reasoning behind it. "What did you call me?" he asked, shoulders locking backwards as he brought his head up.

"You heard," The Wolf sneered, his glare narrowing mockingly. He slowly advanced, lowering the blade in tandem with his steps. "You _reek_ of the Kingdom, though that is to be expected…" He slowly turned back around to focus on Zen-Aku, pointing his free hand at the Org. "But _you…_ is _this_ how you've been hiding all this time, Naku?"

Movement to Merrick's side caught his attention, just beyond his peripheral vision. Seeing that this Wolf was focused on Zen-Aku, he spared a quick glance; only to have his gaze meet the yellow gaze of the Duke Org beside him. And even though he couldn't get a good look, he was sure he caught something in Zen-Aku's glare.

He seemed just as mystified as Merrick.

"I know not of who you speak, but I suggest that you lower your tone," Zen-Aku turned back to face the Wolf, one of his hands slowly sliding behind his back. Merrick spotted something catch the sunlight behind Zen-Aku, and he was immediately aware of what his friend had armed himself with. "We come here not for conflict."

Though this didn't seem to be the response the Wolf was searching for. His hand visible tightened around the Crescent Blade's handle, as a deep, reverberating snarl tore out of the mask. He gave a sharp flick of his blade, and closed the gap between the groups in the blink of an eye.

Merrick was only barely aware of Zen-Aku rushing in front of him, the gust of wind brushing his hanging fringe the first suggestion to movement. Next thing he knew, both Wolf and Duke Org were staring each other down; half-expecting them to come to blows at any moment. But he had barely attempted to approach and separate the pair when he picked up the hushed, sharp words from the Wolf.

"How could you have forgotten who you are? _Where_ you are?" A lesser being would have felt the sharp sting that came with the cutting words, but Zen-Aku's glare was immovable, staring right back into the yellow glare firing daggers at him. But what was more surprising to Zen-Aku, wasn't the intensity of the anger nor was it the sharpness of the words; rather, what he could see through the breaks in the clouded anger and rage.

But what was that look?

His thoughts were severed by a loud snarl from the Wolf, who turned around sharply and walked away a few steps. His free hand came to his masked face-Merrick momentarily mistaking him for face-palming. But he was quickly proven wrong when the hand closed into a fist, pressing against the forehead of the Wolf's mask, as a deep exhale in the sound of a snarl vibrated out.

"This is your home, _Naku_ ," The Wolf turned back around again, the distance between the two re-established; giving Merrick and Zen-Aku that breathing room once again. " _Our_ home, brother."

Merrick had learned to hone a lot of his skills and abilities over the years, both recalling from his past and since he and the rest of the Wild Force parted ways; namely, his way of getting a feel for a person after minimal contact. And he was getting several things already from this Wolf.

"Please, we don't need this to come to blows," Merrick slowly eased forward, one hand momentarily resting on Zen-Aku's padded shoulder as he took a cautious step. A quick look back to the Duke Org brought his mostly puzzled expression, mixed with the underlining, restrained assertiveness Zen-Aku always seemed to have, no matter who he was dealing with. But Merrick gave his own look of reassurance in response.

He had this situation under control…for now.

Merrick then turned back around to the back-facing Wolf, and took another step forward; firmly planting himself between the pair. "We mean you no harm, Warrior."

The slightest twitch of one of the Wolf's ears showed that, even though he wasn't facing Merrick, he was at least partially listening to him. So, Merrick continued, "You know Zen-Aku, quiet well by your words." He took another step forward, though quickly stopped when he picked up the signs of hostility, with the hold over his blade tightening and shoulders rolling backwards. Knowing he was already pushing his limits with this Wolf, Merrick momentarily remained in place, but continued to talk.

"We know of the Power Rangers here; I just want to know if _you_ know of them."

He didn't even see the blow coming, moving faster than he thought possible; the next thing he was aware of, he was knocked to the ground, winded, coughing and groaning as he clenched his now-pain laced stomach. The shadow of the Wolf loomed over him, but the next second, Zen-Aku's shadow had collided with the Wolf's.

Blows were blocked, a body was thrown to the ground and the Wolf's blade was sent hurtling through the air.

"That was not a wise move," Zen-Aku snarled, boot firmly planted across the struggling Wolf's throat. Even as he tried to free himself, the Wolf wasn't going anywhere. And as Zen-Aku slowly leaned down, masked face to masked face, the struggling lessened slightly; but the infuriated look never once left the eyeholes of his mask.

"Now…you're going to answer some questions."

\/

A D-13 soldier ducked behind cover-one of the large, decorative fountains at the centre of Pax Valley that had long since had its water cut off-as an explosion rang out across the area. He glanced over the edge, only to pull his head back down just as quickly as a lifeless body soared over him. The once-living soldier came crashing down, a sickening _crunch_ accompanying his impact and causing a sick sensation to form in the soldiers' stomach.

He was brought out of his focus by something grabbing him by the back of the vest. He let out a shout as he was lifted clear off his feet, his rifle coming free of his hand and falling into the empty fountain as the guard let out a shout of alarm. Primal instinct suddenly took over, and he started taking throwing punches every chance he got; at least a couple of them had to land. And, as hoped, he did feel his closed fists impact with something solid, almost flesh-like. But this only seemed to make the creature angrier.

The stomach-churning, chatter-like noise coming from the Wolkein, however, was abruptly interrupted; replaced with the sound of sharpened steel cutting cleanly through the air. And as the guard felt the grip around his collar slacken, it was replaced by the ear-splitting screech as he fell back on his ass. He didn't even look back as he scrambled to safety, managing to grab his rifle again in the process.

Now one-armed, the Wolkein turned to its attacker and let out a curdling attack screech; only to have it cut short, as a blade was stabbed up through its head, the tip piercing through the top of the skull. Blood spewed from the latest wounds, the whole body going limp and added weight only forcing its head further onto the blade.

" _Fuck, these things are dead weight,"_ Tyler grunted, kicking the limp Wolkein square in the chest, pulling his Wolf Blade back in the same motion. Green blood splattered across the ground, some splashing across his boot. Without missing a beat, he stepped off the edge of the fountain and quickly looked around the battlefield. Dead soldiers littered the entire area, a few Wolkeins taking the extra step to eviscerate a select few, less-than-fortunate corpses.

A quick shake of his head brought his attention away from the bloody sight, and caught sight of Natalie dealing with her own pod of Wolkeins; looked like they were getting ready to ambush another group of pinned soldiers. And they would have likely started tearing them apart, had Natalie not thrown them off their prey.

Sudden movement out the corner of his eye caught his attention, and effortlessly dodged the wild swing from anther Wolkein. He quickly retaliated, first with a left hook to the head, and as the Wolkein recovered from that, Tyler kicked the grunt's legs out from underneath it. As a result, it fell off the edge of the fountain and smashed the side of its head against the smoothed concrete; taking a good chunk out and sending an even large crack around both sides.

Tyler stepped down from the fountains' edge, and finished the job with a powerful kick right to the Wolkeins' temple. While he made a slight face under his helmet after he heard the uncomfortable _crack_ that followed the blow, but that was quickly forgotten when he heard a familiar shout. And next thing he knew, Natalie had been thrown back into him, and the pair quickly found themselves slammed against what remained of the fountain. Tyler himself was unfortunate enough to hit a weak spot in the already damaged barrier, and went straight through.

With a groan, he grabbed the smashed edge and pulled himself upright. _"OK…what in the name of Fuck was that?"_ he asked, shaking the disorientation from his helmet; though with the headache he currently had from the impact, the helmet felt just a size too small.

Natalie slowly rolled her shoulder, a low groan coming through her filter, as she looked across at Tyler. She then looked back from where she had been thrown from, and nodded in the same direction.

Tyler followed her gesture, and simply said, _"Oh…that's what."_

Smashing through the corner of a previously collapsed building, came a towering, muscular form of a Demon; its skin a mix of hellish red and ash black, scars like cooled, cracked lava all across its mountainous body. The flesh around the obvious orb embedded within his chest was glowing noticeably, as though an active fire roared with the beast and the cooled lava acted as additional armour.

Its eyes, like two black gemstones jammed into its face, focused on the two downed Warriors, and narrowed menacingly as a growl started to bubble from the depths of its throat. A set of short tusks flanked either side of his jaw-the right tip having been snapped off long before his arrival-and his jagged jaw opened to reveal his crooked fangs.

" _That's a big fucker if ever I saw one,"_ Tyler remarked, quickly getting back onto his feet, and after waiting a moment for Natalie to follow suite, and brought his Wolf Blade into a defensive hold. Though his eyes did linger cautiously on that massive orb wedged in the Demon's chest. Was it getting brighter or was it just him…?

Suddenly, the creature planted its clawed feet into the ground, and took a deep breath; pushing its chest forward, while moving his shoulders back in the same motion. And the orb, rather worryingly, rapidly started growing from a dark yellow, to a menacing, angry red.

" _Move."_

" _What?"_ Tyler turned to look over to Natalie, having been pre-occupied with watching the Demon's movements. But when her hand grasped his forearm, what she said suddenly became a lot clearer.

" _Move!"_ Natalie emphasised her point by shoving herself and Tyler to one side, throwing the pair of them to the ground. And with no time to spare as well; just as they shoved themselves out of the Demon's crosshairs, it let out a bellowing roar. A beam of fire, like liquid metal spewing forth, shot through the air. The already damaged fountain was left in utter ruins, the concrete completely giving out under the unearthly liquid metal.

And from their landing point not that far away, the pair of Warriors got a first-hand look of the destructive power.

" _Shit!"_ Tyler exclaimed, quickly scrambling back along the floor an extra couple of feet as the collecting pool of liquid lava spread out menacingly; though not even coming close to the pair.

" _See what all that evasive training was for now?"_ Natalie uttered as she pulled herself to her feet again; dragging Tyler back up as well, even as he continued to look anxiously to the lava. She gave a light backhand to his chest, more to get his attention than anything else, and advised, _"Try to get behind him; when Isaac gets here, should be a lot easier with three of us. Right now, we've got to stall."_

" _What about those soldier guys?"_ Tyler gave a quick look around, still seeing the fallen bodies of the soldiers across the entire area. Their guns, and more worryingly, their unfired ammo littered the battlefield like confetti.

Natalie seemed to ponder this point as well, taking a brief moment to survey the surrounding area. _"…We'll need to watch our backs, in case anyone gets ideas,"_ she quickly decided, giving a confirming nod to Tyler before looking back to the Demon.

Tyler hesitantly returned the nod, slowly bringing the blade's upper half up to rest on his shoulder. _"Love how confident you sounded right there."_

" _Shut up,"_ Natalie huffed, and Tyler could almost _hear_ the eye roll from underneath her helmet; but at the same time, he was fairly sure there was a smirk there, even if it only lasted for a second.

Both turned their full attention back to the Demon, whose fire beam had died down and seemed to currently be re-charging for the next attack. It snorted, turning to look at the Warriors again, repeatedly dragging one of its feet against the same spot, again and again; like a bull preparing to charge at the matador.

" _Well then…let's dance,"_ Tyler concluded, raising his other hand up in a mocking 'come get it' gesture to the Demon.

Perhaps not the wisest of choices, considering, much like a bull, the Demon charged at the taunting gesture, letting out a possessed roar as it bared down on the Warriors.

\/

"What's the status of the central Pax patrol?"

The anxious pen-clicking of the head operator came to an abrupt stop with the voice; he had been so pre-occupied watching the monitors in front of him, he hadn't heard the door to the office opening. Though even with the quizzing tone, the operator knew E had to see what he was seeing. The observation room was specifically designed, with the knowledge that employees were prone to slack off; regardless of how hard-working and devoted they could be.

So whenever someone walked into the room, they immediately got a view of what was on the numerous computer monitors; they lined the wall directly opposite, with one a small personal monitor for each observer to work on and make adjustments. Though it was synced up with the wall of screens, eliminating any sort of privacy to their work.

"The patrol ran into a group of those Demon foot soldiers," the head operator explained, carefully taking his glasses off and rubbing over his eyes with a low groan; trying to relieve some of the strain he felt in his eyes. He couldn't remember the last time he had a good sleep in this place. Late nights and early morning hours wrecked his sleep pattern.

He swivelled back around in his chair, facing the personal monitor again. A quick tapping of keys brought up the list of soldiers that had been dispatched; out of the dozen heartbeats monitors that were listed, only three were still activated. "I've got into contact with one of the Southern patrols to help the surviv-"

"Call them off."

The operator paused, slowly bringing his hands from his face and lowered his glasses back over his eyes; adjusting them slightly, as he turned around back around to look at E. "Sir…?"

E's eyes remained on the monitors, darting between the remaining heart rate trackers and the various surveillance cameras surrounding the central monitor. And even with the distance between himself and the screens, E could easily make out the blurs and blue and white darting across the screens. "Don't bring any of the other patrols into the mess of a problem. Order them to avoid the area entirely," E instructed, stepping around the operator and turning his personal monitor around so he could get a better look at it.

The operator looked stunned, and as he watched E looking over his monitor with a keen gaze, he felt that familiar feeling of uneasiness start to appear. He vaguely remembered the few times he had encountered E directly; and with each encounter, that same feeling crept back up time and time again. It wasn't like the guy radiated villainy or had this aura that warranted it; but E was just…the operator couldn't quiet put his finger on what was the cause of it all.

"But, sir. The survivors…" he started again, but the rest of his response died in his throat when E turned his steely eyes over to him. He might have figured out one of the reasons E elected that reaction out of him…

"Two of the Wolves are out there with them," E stated flatly, gesturing to the wall-mounted monitors and turning the personal monitor back around to the operator. "We sent another group out there, we'll be throwing them into the jaws of death. And I may be heartless at times, but even I wouldn't do that to good men."

"But it seems as though that's something you're willing to do…"

The operator's eyes narrowed momentarily at the shade getting thrown at him; sometimes E could be a difficult man to decipher, but there were moments like this where his intentions were crystal clear. "I thought they were all armed with those FMJ rounds that can break through the Rangers' armor?"

E never gave an answer for this question. And as the seconds of silence started to grow, another sensation of dread formed like a ball of ice-cold water in his stomach. But he never got the opportunity to ask the question he wanted to know-though he feared getting the answer he dreaded-as E spoke up before he had a chance.

"What's this here?" E asked, gesturing to the right-most monitor on the wall. "Something the aerial reconnaissance picked up?"

The operator turned around in his chair again, quickly focusing in on the selected monitor. While the rest of the surveillance showed images of the city, some following other patrols and others focused on specific points of interest, this one screen showed something completely different. It was showing…forests?

"Looks like something caught its attention," the operator noted, quickly leaning forward and tapping away at the keyboard. The heartrate tracker on the central monitor was quickly switched over with the forest surveillance feed, and with a few clicks and commands typed in, various zoom and enhance features were applied. "It may take a while to figure out what's going on out there."

"Just focus on finding out where it is," E ordered sharply, gesturing to the monitor once more as he quickly headed out through the door. "The second you do, report to me immediately."

\/

"The Warriors have taken the bait," Batibat smirked as she watched through her viewing portal, wisps of green energy connecting her swirling hands to the tear in reality that stood before her and Death. She looked over her shoulder to see what her Masters' reaction was, but her expression stiffened somewhat when she noted how closely Richter was standing to her, looking over her other shoulder.

"Interesting strategy; though your plan does entirely rely on the Rangers' empathy for the soldiers," Richter noted, giving a side-long glance to the she-Demon. Though his gaze returned the portal shortly after a garbled-screech of a Wolkein came from the portal. "Or perhaps it's relying on their protectiveness over their home."

" _ **Either way, it's working,"**_ Death hissed across at the Admiral, acidic-green glare brightening under his hood.

Batibat gave a slight look over her opposite shoulder; the pair of Hands usually were at each other's throats, trying to gain the upper favour from the Master. Though it seemed there was one thing in existence that they could be united against; and that was standing behind Batibat's left shoulder, giving an apprehensive look at Death's words.

"I would hardly class 40% effectiveness as 'working'," Richter remarked dryly, raising his remaining eyebrow at the hooded Hand. His words seemed to agitate the Demon, as he noted the low growl come under the hood and one of his hands slowly moving to the bladeless handle at his side. "But," he started again, taking a small step back in faux respect, hands partially raised. "I suppose it's a start, and it should draw the others out of their little cubby hole."

" **Hmm…"**

All three paused, and turned around to look over at Master Horror atop his throne, his unseen chin resting atop his closed fist. The bony thumb rubbed against his jaw, supposedly, as he seemed lost in thought. But even when he seemed focused on something beyond those of his Hands' and their actions, they knew to be weary should they risk addressing him.

"Is…something the matter, Master?" Batibat cautiously questioned, giving a light snap of her fingers, obscuring the view through the portal with the very same green magic. This prompted the other two to turn their feet towards the throne as well, giving the Master their full attention.

" **I sense something…"** Horror muttered, as thought he was responding to Batibat's question but not directly replying to her; only responding to the local vicinity. **"Something…that should not…be."**

He lifted his head, and pushed his previously propping hand forward, skeletal fingers extending out. The red glow reappeared under his hood as his 'eyes' opened once more.

Immediately, Batibat's green magical-laced portal was briefly overtaking by Horror's own red essence, and as the three standing before it turned back around, it was as though the clouds had parted, and the portal was crystal clear once more. And this time, it was showing something very different to the city massacre.

Instead, it showed a forest, peaceful and untouched by humans, where only a few creatures would venture so far from their modern comforts. Though if anything the portal was showing, only one of the three being shown would even remotely be used to human comforts; and even then, it didn't seem like he was one to take such home comforts.

"The Animarian…he's here," Batibat muttered, unfolding her arms as she turned back to the portal as the red faded, restoring the 'natural' green. Her eyes darted over the image, and widened when she realized who the human was standing with. That armour in those colours, one standing and one against a tree, brought flashes of memories.

" _ **The Warriors survived."**_

Death's voice seemed far more distant than it actually was, but it sounded much farther as Batibat's focus was put entirely on what they were seeing before them. Her arms wrapped around herself once again, one hand raised to her chin as she rubbed her pale skin in a rare display of nerves.

This was not good, not good at all.

"Both of us will see that this matter is eradicated, Master," Batibat hastily responded, turning briskly around to face Horror once again. "This is a matter that requires both myself and Death's efforts."

Death looked across at Batibat at her claims, though remained silent as he listened carefully. His hands folded neatly behind his back, rolling his shoulders back as he exhaled slowly.

" **You think this matter is beyond one of you?"** Horror questioned, his tone dangerously calm as he looked over Batibat carefully, assessing her down to the smallest change of posture or tone. And the faint shiver that seemed to travel up and down her spine at his words didn't go unnoticed either.

"The two of us, working together, would ensure this matter is dealt with…permanently," Batibat reasoned, after taking a moment to compose herself and her response. She knew she was playing a potentially dangerous game, at the risk of making both herself and Death seem inferior. But this needed to be eradicated, and that would only be completely guaranteed with the two Hands working in unison.

Horror was quiet in his observations, head slowly turning to one side as he looked Batibat and Death up and down; Richter making the wise choice to step aside from the steely glare, taking this brief moment to have a short look around the chamber.

After a moment, Horror gave a dismissive wave, responding, **"Go. I expect this matter to be dealt with, quickly. But failure will be met with, accordingly."**

The threat didn't go unheeded by either Hand, who both gave their silent nod of understanding. Batibat looked across at Death, and gave an equally silent jerk of the head; the pair quickly departing from their place before the portal. To make some of the finer preparations needed before they travelled to the human realm, perhaps.

"Well…that was certainly eventful, to say the least," Richter remarked after they vanished into the tunnels, turning his eyes back up to Horror on his throne. When the Demon turned to look down at him, Richter gave a brief, partially forced smirk of acknowledgement. He then gestured to another exit from the main chamber, asking, "Could I, perhaps, have a look around? Under your watchful gaze, of course."

He could almost _feel_ Horror's gaze narrow on him, briefly judging and assessing the possible situations that may arise with him granting or denying this request. In the end, however, Horror leaned back into his throne, giving another wave of dismissal.

" **Of course,"** he echoed Richter's words.

* * *

 ** _To Be Continued..._**


	27. Episode 24 - Homecoming(III)

Homecoming (III)

"I thought you were the last Org," Merrick quietly asked Zen-Aku, the pair of them on the opposite side of the clearing they had set up camp. The fire had been extinguished not long ago, judging by the smoke still lifting from the smouldering embers. The pair looked over their shoulder, through the thin smoke screen that seemed to act as a divider across the camp. Sat against one of the trees, held by no restraints or bounds holding him in place, was Savage; one arm propped up on a knee, gaze cast downwards and to the side.

His mask lay not too far from where he sat, discarded from use; he saw no need to wear it anymore.

"He's no Org," Zen-Aku remarked, arms folded across his chest as he looked away from assessing the distant Savage, and back to Merrick.

He turned back around again, his gaze briefly lifting to look at the obsidian horn Org horn protruding from Zen-Aku's forehead. While this further diminished his half-baked theory on this being another surviving Org, Merrick took a moment to look over the rest of his Org companion. Taking note of several features that the pair shared.

"Maybe not, but he seems to know you," Merrick countered, rubbing a hand against the side of his neck in thought. "In one way or another."

"Yet I know nothing of him," Zen-Aku uttered, unfolding his arms and walking off a short distance, back to Merrick as he fell into silent thought. His hands clenching into tightly wound fists didn't go unnoticed by the observant Merrick; nor did the side way glance.

"But how does he know of me? I don't smell anything like Org on him."

Merrick let out a low exhale, arms folding up across his chest, much like Zen-Aku a few moments prior, as he turned on the spot. He looked over to Savage again-he seemed to be plucking at the grass and tearing apart the blades in silence-before he heard Zen-Aku's voice cut through the silence once again.

"Though I fully intend on finding out, _completely_."

Next thing Merrick knew, Zen-Aku was marching across the clearing, closing the distance between where they stood and where Savage had be placed in double-time. Merrick was quick to catch up, though with a far more relaxed-but still prepared for any further hostilities-posture compared to the rigid nature of Zen-Aku he had come to associate with the Org regardless of the situation.

Savage tore through the third blade of grass by the time he saw two different pairs of boots standing before him; one partially concealed by the leather 'cloth' armour around the legs, one wearing what Savage had heard the teens call, and wear on numerous occasions, jeans.

"We were wondering if you were ready to answer some questions," Merrick quickly said, knowing he had to get his voice in before Zen-Aku made his initial remarks. And though he heard the low growl of disapproval come from the Org beside him, Merrick kept his eyes on the ducked head of the crimson armour-clad Wolf.

He slowly brought his head up, feeling the bark rub against the fur on his neck as his eyes found the faces of the unlikely pair before him. Though he first looked to Merrick, his gaze lingered only a second before he turned his full attention to the much furrier, masked face.

"If Yei could see you now…" Savage uttered under his breath, a disproving tone and shake of his head accompanying his uttering. "She'd roll over in her grave."

Zen-Aku simply looked down at Savage in complete silence, his mask concealing his facial expression, content with watching their captive utter his anger-fuelled words. But when a gap between his words made itself apparent, the Duke Org was quick to jump in. "You speak as though I should know these you and these others. Yet these all mean nothing to me," Zen-Aku stated, arms slowly rising up to fold over his chest once again.

Though perhaps it would have been better to adapt a less restrictive stance, as the growls from Savage rose in volume, and his last few words seemed to be the phrase that broke the Wolf's restraint.

"Zen!" Merrick was barely able to get even the shortened name for his companion out before Savage moved.

In a short time it took for a human to blink, Savage was off the ground and up on his feet, the exposed hackles across the back of his neck rising. The feral growls grew exponentially as his hands quickly tightened back into fists once again, though with an additional, subtle shake traveling all the way up his lower arms. As though he was trying to _really_ hard to keep from resorting to primitive violence.

Though he seemed equally willing to let the fists start flying.

"I don't know what happened to you when you became…" Savage's steely glare briefly flickered up to the prominent horn sticking out from Zen-Aku's forehead; one of the reasons why he didn't want to invade the Org's personal space _too_ much.

He gave a sharp sniff, and continued, "…When you became this… _Org_ , but clearly you've lost far more of yourself than I first feared."

"So you know he's an Org?" Merrick questioned, laying a hand over Zen-Aku's shoulder as he addressed the aggravated Wolf. Though when the Duke Org's glare was turned on him, Merrick was quick to steel himself and stood his ground; he made a small jerk of the head, eyes flicking to a spot just behind Zen-Aku. Silently asking him to give a bit of ground.

And while Zen-Aku brought more of his focus onto Merrick, at the mere suggestion at what he wanted him to do, Merrick let out a silent sigh of relief when Zen-Aku gave a disgruntled growl before reluctantly giving ground. When that matter was dealt with, Merrick turned back to Savage again, just as the Wolf started to reply.

"I know of the Orgs, yes," Savage answered, addressing Merrick's question while keeping his eyes firmly glued to Zen-Aku; only giving brief looks towards the Animarian. "But _we,_ " his gaze on Zen-Aku hardened, "are before their time, significantly."

"And you," Savage finally turned his full attention onto Merrick, his tight fists somewhat loosening in comparison to when he abruptly rose. "A Protector of the Kingdom of Animaria," he sneered, looking Merrick up and down distastefully, as if the mere mention of the long-lost kingdom was beneath him. He would have added an additional comment, but after realizing the hypocrisy it would bring, he wisely decided that wouldn't have worked in his favour.

Though his jaw tightened at the tone of Savage when he addressed his previous home, Merrick ignored the snide comment and instead continued his questioning, "How about something simple; your name."

He had hoped something as simple as a request for a name would go off easily compared to the snide comments and hateful looks. But, it seemed this Wolf Warrior had ways to make things difficult and arduous for him; even with such a simple request.

"Savage Unchta Rit'tal," the crimson-clad Warrior stated, subtly pushing his chest out as he looked between the pair. "Of the Northern Lunar Clan. Brother to a fallen Warrior, Son of a murdered Mother and Father, Husband to a murdered Wife. Warrior of Zeta, Follower of Oktrix and I will ensure that those responsible for my Clan's destruction with pay with-"

"Zeta?"

Savage would have likely continued on, had Zen-Aku not interrupted him abruptly. But as the Wolf fell silent and turned to look at him fully, Zen-Aku was staring right back, yet he wasn't focusing on Savage before him; as desperate as his look had momentarily become. Like Zen-Aku was lost in his thoughts.

' _That name…why does it sound familiar?'_ Zen-Aku asked himself, eventually taking a small step away from the others. His back was quickly put to them, concealing his thoughts and looks from their view; though he did have to roll his eyes at some of Savage's droning on, some of the names just seemed…

' _Naku?' a distant female's voice echoed. Simultaneously, a field flashed into sight; as though lightning struck rapidly, highlighting the scarred landscape._

His breath grew a fraction heavier for a moment, though concealed it well from the others.

Thankfully for Zen-Aku, Merrick had stepped in the spot he had made available, and continued his assessment of Savage. "Who are these people you named? This…Zeta and…Oktrix?" he questioned, hesitating slightly to make sure he was pronouncing it right. Last thing he needed right now was to send this Wolf over the edge by disrespecting something he clearly held highly. And even though Savage threw him a dirty look, Merrick found himself still in one piece, so assumed he was in the clear.

For now.

"Oktrix is the Great Giver, providing my people with lives of morals and honour; we honoured Oktrix in return, acting as a servers of His Will. Zeta serves as his prophet; more…interactive with this world, acts more as an active observer rather than a passive one," Savage explained, a fraction calmer than before as he paused to look over Merrick in a new light. Nothing could truly replace his people, but as it stood, he knew there were very few who could understand what was currently on his mind.

 _Zeta..._

"Much like how Animaria had Animus as its Protector."

Savage's words grew distant, despite standing so close, as more fragments made themselves apparent deep within Zen-Aku's mind.

 _A towering figure loomed in the distance, rising from the ground like some sort of spirit. The sunlight caught the monstrous mass at just the right angle, highlighting the sheer among of gold applied across its blocky frame._

 _Bright blue eyes shone through, seemingly staring right into Zen-Aku's soul._

Zen-Aku's eyes snapped open, and was suddenly aware of his hands brought up to his chest, clenched to the point where he started losing feeling in his fingers. He quickly unclenched the fists, but found the moment it did, the faintest shake caught his attention.

' _What was that?'_ he asked himself, giving a cautious look over his shoulder, wondering if the two behind him had caught on; thankfully, Merrick was still engrossed in his questioning. That concern alleviated, Zen-Aku turned forward once more and tried to think; he recalled a feeling similar to this.

' _Remember.'_

That phrase. That one-word phrase Animus repeated to Merrick within him, over and over again, all those years ago. He had always thought it was simply speaking to the Warrior merged with the Mask, locked away and nearly consumed by Zen-Aku. But the things this Savage was saying, the looks he saw in the Wolf Warrior's eye-anger, yes, but something more lurking beneath-and these fuzzy flashes, Zen-Aku started having second guesses.

"Well, well…isn't this a _wonderful_ reunion."

The sarcastic tone echoed around the forests, seemingly surrounding the three standing at the centre of it all. Alarmed, it took the following diabolical cackle to the words for them to shift into a defensive fighting stance; both Zen-Aku and Savage drawing similarly designed Crescent Blades. Merrick shifted into a similarly defensive posture, without the bladed weapon, until Zen-Aku quickly draw his Flute Dagger and flipped the handle around to offer it to his companion.

All three now armed, they formed a defensive circle from their position; trying to cover all sides. Their eyes started scanning the treeline that encircled the clearing, searching desperately for the unearthly voice.

"An acquaintance of yours?" Merrick questioned, sparring a brief look over his shoulder to the crimson-clad Wolf.

"Hardly," Savage growled in response, never once taking his eyes off of the trees and bushes, peeled for any indication or movement. His teeth were bared as the snarl rapidly rose up from his throat, ears perking forward sharply, catching the faintest twig snap.

A figure slowly moved into view, parting the trees and bushes as they entered; leafs withering rapidly as she passed. This drew the attention of the three at the centre, bringing their weapons up to point directly at the figure.

"That _Demon…_ " Savage spat the word out, like it were poison, "had a hand in the downfall of our people."

Batibat smirked dangerously at the accusation, sharp eyes darting between the three that stood before her. Briefly she raised one of her hands to partially-conceal her face, as though she was some picture-esque maiden attempting to hide her blush. But her attempts at innocence weren't convincing.

"Please, you praise me for something I, regrettably, had no direct hand in," Batibat remarked, the innocent façade quickly dropping. Her hands quickly fell down to her side once again, a lone dagger seamlessly slipping from her sleeve and into her palm.

"But rest assured," she continued, and the three were suddenly very aware of the rest of their surroundings shifting and the sound of overlapping marching.

Wolkeins seemed to crawl for every available shadow, some as thin as the twigs they were cast from, and briefly collapsed onto the ground. They were quick to rise back onto their feet, and started to close in on the surrounded Wolves and Merrick. The hooded form of Death materialized through the shadows as well, his steps quicker than the grunts and bringing him in line with Batibat, silent as he drew his green-bladed sword.

"I shall _definitely_ have a hand in this," Batibat brought her dagger up, in addition to a second in her other hand, into an attack-ready stance. The smirk had entirely fallen from her face, as she adopted a far more deadly look in its place.

"The _final_ eradication of your wretched species!"

\/

Tyler yelped aloud as he flew backwards through the air, still vaguely aware of the ringing in his ear from the latest blow from the Demon. Though the shout was abruptly cut short when he collided with what remained of a pillar; concrete was sent flying in all directions as the Blue Warrior flew right through. Though he hit the ground hard enough to bounce against the solid concrete twice, the third bounce landed him on his feet, rising from a crouched position.

Back up again, he peered through the dust, trying to assess the situation as it stood.

Isaac had, thankfully, turned on not long after both he and Natalie had started fighting the Demon; not that they were getting their asses handed to them, Tyler would be quick to say. But he was grateful for the added muscle-

' _Aaand, there goes Isaac,'_ Tyler's shoulders sagged as he saw the uniquely-red armoured form get back-handed by the Demon, and was sent flying through the window of what once might have been a deli place. He probably could have identified if he had been there or not, had he seen the logo on the window before Isaac had smashed through it.

Shaking his head, Tyler slipped his boot under his Wolf Blade and flipped it into the air, grabbing one of the handles. _"Why are these fuckers so tough?"_ he questioned, quickly jumping over the rubble to re-join the fight once again.

" _Because if they weren't, they wouldn't be a fucking problem?"_ Isaac responded in the distance, pulling himself from the glass, briefly stopping in the window frame, brushing any lingering shards of glass off of him.

" _Still,"_ Natalie commented as she ducked under a flying fist from the Demon, sliding along the ground and flipping onto her feet a short distance away. _"Wouldn't mind a Demon with an obvious weak spot every now and again,"_ she panted, rolling her shoulders as the Demon rapidly closed in on her, bellowing as it threw its fists at the White Warrior.

She ducked and side-stepped the wild swings, trying to land strikes across the Demon where she could. But, disheartened, she found that even the Wolf Blade only caused superficial damage, cuts and slices through the hardened surface of the cool lava. Though it wasn't like it was easy to find an exposed spot, realized this as she resumed her evasive actions, putting distance between herself and It.

Except she didn't see that one blow coming.

The uppercut came out of nowhere, and Natalie was sent flying well over thirty feet into the air. Somehow, she managed to maintain her grip on her Wolf Blade as she collided with one of the few remaining skyscrapers in the city. Natalie vaguely found herself surprised that this building was even still standing, let alone finding herself on one of the upper floors a few moments later.

The Demon watched the glass panel shatter upon the Warrior impacting, letting out what sounded like a snort of satisfaction. It turned away from its latest work, aware that there were still two more colours that he couldn't confirm as defeated-

A blow to the back of its head sent him staggering, bowing over slightly from the unexpected attack. He quickly recovered, however, and turned around sharply with a snarl. Looking down at the Blue Warrior standing a short distance away, fists half-heartedly raised and shuffling backwards.

" _Gonna be honest…didn't entirely think that through,"_ Tyler remarked dryly, taking another step back as the Demon bared down on him. He quickly side-stepped to avoid the fist coming at him, watching as the concrete where he had been standing milliseconds before. But this also put the lava-crusted face of the Demon right beside him, giving him an uncomfortably close look at the Demon's features. _Especially_ when its jaw opened and it bellowed out a roar right in his visor.

Wiping off the globs of saliva, Tyler took the opportunity and threw a cheap left-hook across the Demon's jaw. Something cracked in the process, and Tyler quickly realized it wasn't the hanging jaw; shaking his hand, shouting out, _"Fuckfuckfuck!"_ as he quickly moved back. He breathed in sharply, his hold on his wrist tender as he tried to figure out which part of the hand was broken.

As he assessed the damage, the Demon pulled itself up from the ground, shaking the loose concrete free as its burning gaze turned on the back-facing Warrior. But as he went to tear off the Warrior's head, something landed forcefully onto his back and next thing he was aware of, cold steel wrapped around its throat, and started pulling back against his airway roughly.

The staggering steps quickly made Tyler turn around, quickly tensing up and dived backwards, almost getting squashed beneath the distracted Demon. He scrambled across the ground, ending up finding himself propped up against a bit of fallen rubble, finally noticing Isaac hanging on for his life over the Demon's back, his Wolf Blade digging into the Demon's throat. And with every lurch and violent shake, Isaac's weapon dug deeper into the crusted over throat.

" _Don't just fucking sit there and watch!"_ Isaac shouted, trying to find a foothold on the creatures' crusted back, only to keep slipping down with each violent jerk the Demon made to try and remove the pest. _"Fucking help!"_

The shout broke Tyler from his momentary trance, and quickly jumped back to his feet; thankfully, the initial pain had passed-though he didn't exactly like _how_ quickly the pain subsided-and he could focus back on the fight.

He grabbed his Wolf Blade and charged at the Demon, sliding under one of the swings and landed a strike to the back of the Demon's knee. The blow forced the Demon down to one leg, trying to reach around his back to dislodge the irritating Warrior scratching his back.

But Tyler, in a moment of questionable judgement, jumped and grabbed a hold of the Demon's flailing forward, both arms and legs wrapping themselves up around the cracked muscle and forearm. Though this momentarily seemed to hinder the Demon's mobility, Tyler quickly realized that wasn't true in the slightest.

If by how the world in front of him suddenly started shaking violently was anything to go by.

After recovering from the impact and making it to the newly broken window, Natalie stood in the window frame and watched as the scene beneath her unfolded. A sharp intake of breath scrambled through her filter as she watched Tyler's body launching into the air, crashing right through what remained of one of her favourite pizzeria.

Hastily brushing off a few shards of glass, she brought the Howler to the mouth of her helmet. _"MUTT, we're in real trouble here,"_ she exclaimed, leaning against the window frame, her free hand wrapping around her side. A faint groan of pain came in the wait for MUTT to respond, Natalie sliding down to one knee. _'Tender rib,'_ she thought immediately, applying minimal pressure down the side of her waist.

\/

" _MUTT?"_

" _I'm working on it,"_ MUTT responded hastily, quickly stepping away from the computer as he returned to Tanya and Kyle; leaving the now empty syringe beside the keyboard in his haste to return. Together with Tanya, her arm now free of the cast that had held it in place, the pair helped Kyle onto his feet.

" _Though I am against giving you such a high dosage in one go,"_ MUTT explained, stepping away as Kyle tested out his leg; finding the limp was still present, but far less severe than it had been earlier. _"It seems the situation doesn't like agreeing with my requirements."_

"We'll manage MUTT," Tanya assured, rolling her shoulder slightly, testing the manoeuvrability of her arm. There was some stiffness around her elbow, and more worryingly was the on-and-off feeling she had over her ring and pinkie finger. But for the most part, most feeling had returned to everything else. "Besides, we've suffered through worse."

" _That you may have, but you suitable recovery time as well,"_ MUTT countered, his attention returning to Kyle as he took more steps, confirming that his hindering injury had subsided, at least for the most part. _"Just try to not to cause yourself further injuries."_

"Yes Mom," Kyle commented sarcastically, adding a playful eye roll as he gestured to Tanya, then to the spot beside him.

Tanya smirked lightly at the joking nickname, before walking around MUTT-running her hand over the cool metal of his shoulder-as she moved to stand beside her friend. Bringing her hand over her chest, twisting the wrist to bring the Howler facing forward.

"Ready?" she asked, giving a side-long look at Kyle.

"Oh I'm always ready," was the response she got, along with the ever-present smirk flashed her way.

" _Not yet."_

Both turned back to look at MUTT, and Kyle barely managed to raise his hand in time, catching the small object thrown his way. After the momentary recovery and confirmation that he had actually caught whatever it was-and it hadn't bounced out of his reach-Kyle turned his hand over and looked at the contents.

"Another auxiliary?" Kyle asked, raising an eyebrow at MUTT as he examined the frosty-white crystal, turning it slowly all around to make out what little detail he could.

" _Been working on its restoration for a short time now; believe now is as good a time as any to show its use,"_ MUTT answered, turning back to the computers, keyboards rattling with the inhuman speed of which he typed his commands. _"Now, you are ready."_

Tanya gave a confirming nod to MUTT, and after Kyle slipped the latest crystal into his back pocket, both shifted back into the stance, and their Howlers flashed into life. They barely got out, "United, We Howl!" before they were teleported away, leaving in a flash of light. Leaving MUTT, once again, alone in the Den.

" _Someone has to care,"_ MUTT commented aloud, knowing he was speaking despite no-one being around to hear. He turned his 'head' slowly back around to the monitors, and slowly tapped a few keys. This switched the monitors back to their original input. The forest came back into view once again, only this time, the sensors briefly sounded the alarm, picking up the alarming Demon presence in the area.

And at the centre of it all, alongside the newcomers to his territory, Savage stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the other lupine-like Warrior.

" _Though I seem to be the only one who realizes that."_

\/

One Wolkein was slammed into a tree, letting out a deathly screech when the remains of a stump pierced through its chest. Its twitching form tried to recover the fatal injury, but a close snarl and a flash of a blade swiftly brought any further efforts to an end.

As its severed head fell onto the ground and its body slumped completely against the tree, Savage snarled viciously, turning back to the numerous other Wolkeins that swarmed the surrounding area. Other bodies were already littered across the entire clearing, though some limbs found themselves further away from the rest of their body than others. His sharp gaze darted between the constantly shifting Demon grunts, their featureless faces somehow ever watchful.

Finally, one of the Wolkeins to his left made its move, attempting to catch the Wolf Warrior off-guard. But with a quick flash of a sword and even quicker movement on his part, and the foot soldier was cut done where it stood.

The remaining Wolkeins started rushing in, attempting to overwhelm Savage with sheer numbers and force; pushing and shoving, climbing over one another in their wild attempts to fight and cut down their adversary. Blades were raised up as they closed in, as Savage stood rooted to the spot, refusing to give ground.

"Come on!" came Savage's war-cry, swinging his Blade back around to hold it with both hands, his eyes ablaze through the slots in his mask. He charged forward, meeting the grunts half-way and all became a blur of steel, blood and body parts.

Across the clearing, several bronze-armoured Wolkeins were crossed by a purple streak, sparks flying off of the armour and severing forearms and entirely limbs. One by one, the foot soldiers collapsed to the ground after the streak passed. When the streak came to a sudden stop, Zen-Aku took an actual form once again. In the same motion, he turned on the spot, bringing a downward blow onto a surviving Wolkein. The blade edge cut right through the bronze armour-it might as well have not been there at all-as the Wolkeins' head and one of its arms fell from its body in a pained screech.

With a grunt, he grabbed the one handle with both hands, and tore the blade free of what remained of the foot soldier. In the same motion, he elbowed another Wolkein attempting to stab him in the back, stunning it momentarily. But a moment was all Zen-Aku needed to grab a hold of the protruding chest armour and, with force that only an Org could possess, threw the helpless Wolkein up and into the air.

Even as its body came crashing back down to earth, crushing another Wolkein in the process, Zen-Aku had quickly begun switching between attacking and defence, deflecting some incoming strikes and expertly parrying others. One particular strike allowed him to drive the dagger of one Wolkein right into the face of another, as both tried attacking the Org at the same time; though without much success. He quickly moved to grab the stabbing Wolkein, leaving the stabbed one's lifeless body to collapse to the ground, and in the same motion, brought its head down to meet his knee's upward strike.

Throwing the stunned Wolkein aside into another tree, with such force the tree broke clean in half, Zen-Aku turned around to find yet more Wolkeins swarming around him, weapons drawn and gravely grunting overlapping one another. And at the head of the pod, Death took poll position, his sickly-green bladed sword drawn and held across his form, pointing offensively at the Wolf Duke Org.

" _ **I was not present during the First Fall of your kind, though I fully intend on being responsible for this one,"**_ Death commented, his green, hooded eyes carefully watching the movements and stature of Zen-Aku. The Demon Hand would have expected to see some sort of reaction, some anger or even that momentary lapse in concentration he reviled in when he faced down lessor foes.

What he didn't expect, however, was the faintest look of confusion, quickly suppressed and replaced with a glare of indifference.

"You claims matter little to me," Zen-Aku responded gruffly, straightening his stance and bringing his Crescent Blade up to rest against his shoulder. His free hand slowly clenched into a fist, as he continued, "But what I do know is this; I will not fall this day. And I will _never_ fall by your hand."

With a flick of his wrist, his Crescent Blade lifted from his shoulder, the edge already glowing a bright yellow with building energy. In the same motion, he gave a sideways strike, shouting, "Crescent Wave!" sending several attack waves at Death and his entourage of Wolkeins. Death raised his sword as he and the foot soldiers were engulfed in the resulting explosion.

Though Zen-Aku didn't relax in the slightest; in the waking smoke from the explosion, a lone figure's outline started to take form. And as the dust slowly settled, a low growl escaped his mask as Death's cloaked silhouette stepped forward, dismissing the lingering smoke with a flick of his sword. _**"I will be the judge of that,"**_ Death proclaimed, twisting his wrist around to bring the blade back up again. _**"And the executioner."**_

His glare narrowing into sharpened daggers, Zen-Aku shifted his stance, securing his back foot position. And with no warning, he surged forward, tearing across the ground and fading into a streak of purple light as he charged the Demon; their blades clashed together, showering the pair in sparks as Zen-Aku tore past to come around for another attack.

Grunting with effort, Merrick ducked and flipped backwards to avoid the onslaught of attacks from the foot soldiers. He was forced to give far more ground than he would have liked, striking back whenever the opportunity allowed him to; the dagger made it harder to parry the attacks successfully. This forced him to rely more on hand-to-hand combat, grabbing onto incoming attackers' arms and disarming them. The latest of which resulted in grabbing onto the Wolkeins' forearm, and kicking its legs out from under it; twisting its arm around beyond its natural limitations.

Quickly thinking, he reached for the Wolkeins' dagger; he spotted a Wolkein approaching him at just the right angle to throw the bladed weapon to it. But the moment the Demon's weapon touched the skin of his palm, Merrick let out a shout as he yanked his hand back. He turned palm-side up, but wasn't able to get a look at his hand, as a sudden kick to his jaw sent him backwards, throwing him onto his back and his world spinning. A coppery smell reached his nose immediately, breathing through his mouth as he pushed himself back onto his elbows.

"I'd expect more from one of the Ancient Warriors of Animaria; frankly, I'm disappointed," Batibat commented mockingly, slowly stepping in front of the collapsed Merrick, flicking her daggers were in a backwards grip. Her serpent-like eyes watched as Merrick shuffled backwards, eventually managing to get back on his feet.

Wiping the blood from his nose, Merrick brought his hands up defensively-Zen's dagger had flown out of his hand when the kick had landed-and took a brief moment to take in what exactly Batibat was. "How…How do you know what I am?" he demanded, breathing deeply between words.

An unsettling smirk twitched at Batibat's lips, a dangerously amused look dancing across her eyes. "We may be many millennia apart, Warrior, but I for one took time to…reacquaint myself with the state of the World. Well, before my Master retakes what is rightfully his."

Merrick's gaze hardened into one of pre-set determination, tightening his stance and bringing his fists in closer. "Not if I have anything to say about that," he uttered, rolling his neck around as he shifted his stance, his dominant fist pushed forward. But this only seemed to amuse Batibat, her smirk blossoming into a deadly grin, her snake eye pupils rounding off as she waltzed closer, forcing Merrick back up to keep the space between them consistent.

"Then why don't you…put your coin where your mouth is?" Batibat questioned, finally coming to a stop short of where Merrick had originally been standing. Merrick himself had backed up against a close by tree, noting that the Wolkeins seemed to have backed off from him, re-focusing their attention on Zen-Aku and Savage across the clearing.

Giving a quick flick of her wrist, Batibat flashed the blades of her daggers before she surged forward, swinging both daggers at Merrick. He barely dodged the blades, the edge skimming the very top of the hair on his head, and jumped away from the tree as her daggers sunk into the bark. She gave a frustrated hiss, trying to wrench her weapons free, pressing one of her knees against the tree to gain a better foothold. But a hand grabbing her by the shoulder, and throwing her back away from the tree, forced her hands from around the dagger handles.

Rolling a short distance, she quickly managing to get her feet beneath her and rose back up to her feet. A scowl accompanied the threatening hiss she threw Merrick's way, as the former Wolf Ranger re-established his stance, blood already starting to dry into his goatee.

"Fine…have it your way," she hissed, rolling her head around her shoulders, earning a faint _crack_ from the depths of her body.

And that acted almost like a trigger, firing herself forward as fists and kicks were sent flying; quickly forcing Merrick on the defensive once more, parrying incoming blows and kicking back underside kicks. He grunted with every deflection, stepping back to try and buy some time to think of a plan; he definitely wasn't going to win by overpowering this Demon, so he knew another plan of attack was needed. But the attacks were coming in thick and fast, and he couldn't dodge and defect them all forever.

Savage dealt with the latest Wolkein opposing him, delivering a fatal blow to the side of the head that sent the foot soldier head first into the dirt. His ears perked up when he heard a distinctive set of grunts, and whipped around to find Batibat lining Merrick's gut and chest with punches; one particularly devastating kick striking the Animarian Warrior square in the liver. The shout of pain cut cleanly through the air, as Merrick hit the ground, the wind knocked from him.

"No!" Savage roared, deflecting an attempted surprise attack by a lone Wolkein, managing to cut off its head entirely in the same blow as he rushed forward, knowing Batibat wasn't going to give him much time. He ducked and dove between strikes, sprinting across the impromptu battlefield, watching Batibat close the gap between herself and the downed Merrick, trying to push himself further and faster.

But in his focus, he didn't even see the blow coming.

The uppercut caught him right in the jaw, throwing his entire head backwards as he slammed into the ground. He groaned aloud, falling onto his side before rolling fully onto his back, and quickly rolling over completely so he could push himself back onto his feet. A sharp growl tore through his mask as he faced down the new opposition; a Wolkein, clad in a crimson chest plate and vambraces, its greying skin only a few shades darker and standing nearly a foot taller than the previous types of Wolkeins he had encountered.

The Wolf jumped forward, throwing the fist towards the Wolkeins' gut; though, he did take note of the Wolkeins' lack of movement to intercept or even retaliate the incoming attack. But he quickly realized why when his fist made contact with the foot soldiers' stomach; it was like punching a reinforced wall of iron and steel.

And the Wolkein didn't even move an inch.

Except when it pulled its fist back, and threw a punch in retaliation, right to Savage's face. The force alone threw the Crimson Warrior back into the ground; hard. The impact audibly forced the breath from Savage's chest, though he was given little time to recover as the Wolkein stepped forward to bring a foot down on Savage. With a growl of effort, he rolled out of the way just in time to avoid being crushed.

While Savage dealt with this, Merrick had got back on his feet, albeit a bit unsteadily compared to before, and had resumed the rapidly dodging he needed to do to avoid Batibat's well-placed attacks. Though that didn't mean he could dodge them all; calculated jabs to the shoulder pressure point, and bringing him up to protect his chest, leaving his head exposed for a serious of punches, landed across his body, forcing him back further.

He finally staggered back several steps, eventually regaining his footing and coming to a stop a short distance away. His face littered with tiny cuts, as well as the feeling of bruises starting to form all across his body, Merrick flicked his head to get the fallen edge of his fringe back into place. He brought his full focus onto Batibat, looking like she hadn't broken a sweat, as she stalked closer.

"Like I said before," she uttered, pulling to one side effortlessly as Merrick threw a sluggish right hook; one arm coming up to block the arm, she retaliated with a punch of her own right to his jaw. This sent him staggering backwards, reaching for support on a tree to keep from falling entirely.

"I'm just disappointed."

A dagger slid free of her sleeve and into her palm, Batibat stepped forward, intending on bringing this little inconvenience to an end once and for all. But as she stepped closer, a sudden shout caused her to stop and turn around to look at the source.

Immediately, she was met with the flying carcass of a Wolkein, throwing her to the ground with its body falling limply across her; its head cracked open right down the middle, green blood spewing across Batibat's clothes.

Zen-Aku quickly rushed in, briefly assessing Batibat before rushing back over to Merrick's slumped form. "Can you stand?" he questioned, already helping Merrick stand up from the tree, supporting him by the back while putting Merrick's arm across his shoulders.

"She's tough," Merrick answered, coughing roughly and felt blood trickle down his chin; a bit of tonguing around his mouth found one of his back teeth dislodged from its place. A quick spit removed it entirely. "Lot tougher than some of the Orgs I faced."

An aggravated hiss suddenly caught their attention, and both turned to find Batibat back on her feet; her decorative clothing ruined by the Wolkein blood, and looking utterly pissed off because of it. "I'm going to enjoy making a wall decoration from your pelt!" she spat, both hands wielding daggers now as she advanced on the Duke Org and beaten Merrick.

Zen-Aku quickly looked at their options; Wolkeins surrounded them on all sides, Death would soon recover from the state he left the Demon in. This she-Demon was aggravated beyond comprehension, and Savage-

"Savage!" Merrick shouted, drawing Zen-Aku's attention to the brutal beating Savage was suffering from.

The crimson-armoured, towering Wolkein delivered punch after punch to Savage, throwing the Wolf back with each impact, and creating further damage across the armour he wore; one particular punch hitting him square in the face, stressing the already damaged mask even more, forcing the crack down the entire length of the mask to grow even further. Savage attempted to retaliate with a swing of his Blade, but the brute Wolkein simply grabbed onto the incoming Blade. And before Savage even had a chance to attempt yanking the Blade free, the Wolkein grabbed him by the back of his head.

And brought his head down, hard, to meet his knee.

The force of the impact sent Savage staggering backwards, before the Wolkein grabbed him by the chest armour and launched the Crimson Warrior into the air. Mid-flight, Savage's mask was separated from his face, sliding free of his muzzle and sent hurtling further than Savage. And as Savage came crashing down to the ground, his mask hit a few meters behind; striking a flat exposed rock.

This final impact proved too much, the fine cracks suddenly splintering into wider cracks, shattering into half a dozen chunks. The pieces fell in a wide spread, vaguely reminiscent of its original form as they littered the grass a short distance from Zen-Aku and Merrick.

" _ **A pity…I was expecting more of a fight,"**_ Death mused, finally reunited with Batibat, the surviving Wolkeins joining the ranks behind the Hands of Horror. _**"Though I definitely won't say no to an easy victory, and a brutal blow to the Warriors."**_

The crimson brute Wolkein fell into line just behind the two Demons, cracking its knuckles slowly, menacingly; a growl coming from the creature's non-existent mouth, as it focused on the barely conscious Savage, the wounded Merrick and the, as of now, uninjured Zen-Aku. Though it noticed that it couldn't find Zen-Aku's gaze looking back at him, whereas he could feel the look the injured human was giving him.

"At this point I just want them to suffer," Batibat hissed sharply, her fingers flexing around the dagger handles, her pupils narrowed in pure rage, to the point almost vanishing into the acidic green of her eyes.

"We've got to think of something, Zen; quickly," Merrick urged, looking between the Demon forces enclosing them and the eerily still Savage a short distance away. When he didn't get a response, however, Merrick sharply barked, "Zen?!" as he turned to look across the Duke Org.

But Zen-Aku was looking aside, entirely focused on the shattered remains of Savage's mask. The various noises and movement by the surrounding enemies slowly started to get tuned out, even Merrick's growing calls of urgency started to grow muffled and distant. His peripheral vision started to grow fuzzy at the edges, and he couldn't feel his heartbeat thumping in his ear-

' _What?'_

His free hand flew his to chest, slamming against his chest armour; the plating rendered the attempt to feel pointless, but…but he could _feel_ it; he could _feel_ the racing, rhythmic beating of a heart.

But…he was an Org…

' _What is this?'_

' _Remember, Zen-Aku…Remember…'_

' _Zen-Aku…' '….Savage…Zeta…Warrior of Zeta….'_

 _The towering figure appeared again, the kicked up dust of a recent battle obscuring his appearance. He had the bulk and shape of a Megazord, but…there was something different to this one.'_

The voices and visions started to overlap, growing louder and louder, more and more present within his mind. Each tried to overwhelm the others, all of which resulted in what Zen-Aku could only describe as tearing his very mind apart.

Then, a single, feminine voice cut through it all, clear as day.

' _NAKU!'_

* * *

 **To Be Continued...**


End file.
